The Temple Garden
by hippy of purple
Summary: Adventure, love, angst, fluff, betrayal. All follow my OC at Hogwarts. Based on some Greek mythology & Grail stories. Rated T. This fic is finished.
1. Prologue

_The Legend of Pandora's Box_

According to Edith Hamilton in _Mythology_ the source of all misfortune was Pandora's curiosity. "The gods presented her with a box into which each had put something harmful, and forbade her ever to open it. Then they sent her to Epimetheus, who took her gladly although Prometheus had warned him never to accept anything from Zeus. He took her, and afterward when that dangerous thing, a woman, was his, he understood how good his brother's advice had been. For Pandora, like all women, was possessed of a lively curiosity. She had to know what was in the box. One day she lifted the lid­ and out flew plagues innumerable, sorrow and mischief for mankind. In terror Pandora clapped the lid down, but too late. One good thing, however, there was ­Hope. It was the only good the casket had held among the many evils, and it remains to this day mankind's sole comfort in misfortune."

_Printed by Epicenter_

**Prologue**

A glowing face broke through the shadows; a mother's face. She stood over her baby's crib, watching the infant sleep, her peculiar green eyes steadily filling with water from the beauty of her baby daughter. A square of moonlight fell through the paned widow, pooling in the crib and illuminating the child's face, peaceful in sleep. The baby girl's breath was shallow and silent; her small chest rose and fell gently. A single, perfect tear streaked down the mother's radiant cheek and fell into the crib, landing without a splash on her baby's plump cheek. Slowly, she reached down to wipe away the salty water, but a muted luminosity started at the tiny face through the tear. Like water to the crusted ground of the desert, the tear sank into the child's skin; then was gone. A sign; the mother smiled into the rapidly fading light and the room darkened once again.

A child with the same peculiar green eyes as her mother wandered about the dusty attic of her family's summer home, her fingers trailing over faded cardboard boxes and leaving darkened paths in the layered dust. Her dark mass of curls bounced around her slim shoulders softly as she walked, skipping really, around the grimy room above the main House. Shelves of plain wood, also covered in dust, lined the walls stacked with boxes, both open at the top and with lids: all different sizes, a few odd colors but mostly the same dulled brown. The lame appearance made the room seem gray and she was the only thing alive, the only color. The room wasn't dark, but all the boxes created long shadows that tilted to the floor, hiding forgotten spider webs. But something caught the girl's eye. Something almost hidden in shadow, twinkling enticingly from its spot on the shelf. Already fixed in its draw, the girl set to work dragging a dirty chair from a grubby corner. Positioning it directly below the shelf, the girl climbed onto it and stood gingerly so she wouldn't crack her head, hoping she would be tall enough. When she straightened, the girl was surprised. The chair had given her enough height so her chin was level with the shelf. Only inches from the box, the girl could see that it was not, as it appeared to be from the floor, made of wood. It was metal. And carved with intricate designs and marks engraved to be some sort of language she couldn't read. It was beautiful. She had to know what was inside. A tense hush had fallen over the already silent room, its electricity threatening to spark at any moment. The girl's stomach knotted; her mother would not like her in the attic, much less _touching_ things. But the lure of the pretty box was too great. As if in slow motion, she reached out with both hands, releasing the wall from the grip of her fingers. Forward, forward…_to_ the box. Before her fingers could wrap around its sides, the chair collapsed from under her. Colliding with the floor, the box sliding slowly out of reach was the last thing the little girl saw before sliding into darkness. Unconscious, the girl lay on the floor, a trickle of syrupy blood pooled on the wooden floor, swirling with the dirt. And along with her memory of it, the box faded back into the shadows, back into hiding.

Time passed and nothing moved from the places the mother left them. A decade to be exact. She had escaped from the nightmare--nothing could change that. But her daughter lived, unaware of the myth that lie hidden in shadow. Nothing stirred in the Temple. Even the wind was silent through its open walls. The tall beams suspending a ceiling blackened by fires long burnt out stood like looming giants, waiting. A black cat sat motionless like a sphinx in a tomb. The cat was the only living thing in the Temple. The only light was from the moon that filtered through the open walls and unfolded like silk over the floor of ancient brown tiles. Through the garden that surrounded the Temple, a breathless whisper moved through the overgrown grass and trees. _She's coming…she's coming… _


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Kate ran her fingers through her thick tangle of dark hair and sighed. Her arms were drooped over her bare knees and her hands clenched a letter tightly. It was from her grandmother. The one the French government had sent six months ago. The one that informed her family that her parents were dead. Her grandmother had kept the letter to herself, locked in her strong box for it contained the gruesome details of her son and daughter-in-law's deaths. Not appropriate for a young lady, she'd explained. Now, going to school, it was in Kate's possession. Another cluster of tears spilled down her cheeks. It seemed to Kate that she was always crying these days. Wiping them away hurriedly, Kate smoothed out the letter for the umpteenth time and flattened it into her shoulder bag. With a sigh, she recognized her surroundings. In the cushy compartment of the Hogwarts Express, rushing to a school; _a nice, solid school_, her grandmother had reminded during their goodbye in the London train station which basically consisted of Kate pretending to be fascinated in the carpet motif and her grandmother chiding her about upholding their family's reputation. That was all they seemed to care about, the lot of them. Gloomily, Kate fell back into the seat and let herself cry. For all of them.

The trains stopped with a lurch and the smog from the train caught its breath and smothered the train in its own fog. Checking her makeup, Kate rubbed the redness away from her eyes and pulled her shoulder bag out the door after her into the gaggle of kids. After being jostled nearly to death, she climbed down the metal steps. Outside, the wind traced with smog whipped around her as she looked around. Throngs of other students, some older some younger, weaved their ways around her in search of another familiar face. Kate was alone.

"Miss! Kathleen!" a man's voice called from somewhere. "Kate!" Remus Lupin stood amongst the young students, hands cupping his mouth and his prematurely graying hair striking a sudden contrast to his youthful face. He looked thinner than when Kate had last seen him, but his hazel eyes still peered out in stark clarity.

"Remus!" Kate called and waved, finding her way through the crowd to him, unnoticed by other students. When she got closer, the wrinkles and worry on his face became visible. "Oh, Remus…" she reached a hand up to his face. "Are you alright?" His worry made her troubled; he was the rock from her childhood. Worry wasn't something he was supposed to know. He pulled her into his arms by way of assurance.

"I'm fine," he mouthed into her hair and pulled away, putting a few feet of distance between them. They were starting to draw attention. "_Really_. Now, let's get into the castle. The Headmaster is expecting you in his office." Smiling at her childhood friend, Kate relaxed into his arm draped over her shoulder in brotherly kindness, allowing herself to be propelled into the titanic castle that could swallow them up like grains of sand.

Heavy tapestries covered the stone walls, reflecting Hogwart's renowned reputation of nobility and grandeur. When she was young, Remus was quite a bit older than she, as old as her parents, but that didn't stem their friendship. It was more the older Remus allowing the five-year-old to tag along than anything. Relenting to her complaints, when he came home for the summer from university, they would stroll down to the pond behind his house and skip rocks, zip around on broomsticks. Over the years, he became her mentor, her guide. And now that her parents were dead, she depended on him more than ever. It had been his letters that had revived her at the end of the previous Hogwarts term, and his presence at the summer home, Eden, in France had thawed her and helped her to grieve for her poor parents. They had been murdered by Voldemort while on what Kate had known to be a holiday. It was never proven that they had been murdered, but it was the only option and the truth. Remus was as close to Kate as a brother.

"We're here," he said, stopping at a gargoyle grinning wickedly at them with large stone incisors. "Lemmon Drop." The stone gargoyle jumped to the side, allowing them to pass. Through a dim corridor he led, then into a study lit only by the bright sunlight flowing through the open windows. An old man with masses of snow white hair sat in a high-backed leather armchair, his gray eyes peering through his half mood spectacles in deep concentration. Albus Dumbledore.

"Sir? She's here; safe."

This seemed to wake him from his trance and he blinked at Kate. "Good afternoon, Kathleen. I trust the train ride was comfortable?" He folded his long fingers on the desk and his eyes twinkled. She mumbled a polite answer and glanced up for reassurance at Remus who smiled sagaciously at her. "Good. You will be shown to the Tower soon, but I do trust Severus will want a word." Severus Snape was a dear friend of her mother's, and Kate's godfather. Kate nodded and smiled weakly. She'd only met him once in her life. Perhaps he would have some bit of information from the Order about her family that Dumbledore may be reluctant to tell. He was, after all, her godfather. After the slaughter of her parents, Dumbledore's resistance against Voldemort, The Order of the Phoenix, took key members of her family into hiding. Kate was sent to be protected by Dumbledore at Hogwarts. That was why she was here, at the magic school. To be protected; she was in hiding.

"Marvelous," Kate said dryly and jumped headfirst into what she really wanted Dumbledore to answer. "What classes will I be taking? What House will I be in?" Kate sat up in the smaller high-backed chair and folded her hands seriously.

"Kate," he said with the tone of someone treading on thin ice, "I'm afraid this cannot be done. It is not possible for you to be roaming the castle unguarded or not chaperoned by a teacher. It is not safe. I--we--cannot risk it. You are here to be protected; to be in hiding. I am sorry." Kate had half expected this but the refusal still stung the bruise that had never healed from the death of her parents. Dumbledore was too smart and too shrewd to give her the freedom of a normal person. There were too many opportunities for someone to discover her. The truth of the matter hurt, but there it was.

"I understand," Kate said, keeping her voice level, averting her eyes downward. Without another word, Remus sensed it was high time and helped her from her seat and led her out the door. She didn't catch the glance shared by Remus and Dumbledore as Remus guided her away from her protector.

"I'm truly sorry, Kate," Dumbledore said as they left the room, just loud enough for his words to reach Kate's ears, as if he were apologizing for more than just a few missed classes.

They reached the dungeons, Kate and Remus. Their breath rose in the cold air as they followed the light of a candle burning, reaching out to them from an open doorway in the dusky corridor. In the singly lighted room, Professor Severus Snape was hunched over a desk, scratching ink on the dry, yellowy parchment. Remus cleared his throat loudly, making Snape look up. The first expression on his face was a disliking scowl, but it faded to a kindly smile when he saw Kate. It was awkward on his pallid face. Only a glare flared with loathing between Severus and Remus, and Remus gave Kate's shoulder a pat and turned on heel, leaving them alone to hang about the chilly hall. Kate went quietly into his arms, accepting what little compassion he knew how to give.

"Do you have the letter?" he said, whispering, his voice cracking slightly. Kate nodded solemnly and pulled the crinkled letter out of her bag, handing her most prized possession to a near stranger. Severus ignored the wrinkles; he understood how much it took from this barely more than a little girl, to comprehend such terrible knowledge. Kate watched him read the letter, the tears slowly filling his eyes. He had known her parents better than anyone. She could tell when he finished reading because the back and forth of his eyes in their sockets ceased and became still. After a static moment, he cleared his throat and looked away, pushing the letter back into her hands, crinkling it over again and more deeply than before. "I'll send Remus in. He's just in the corridor. I must join the feast." His voice was little more than a whisper when he left with a swish of his black cloak.

That night, Kate lay in the bed already prepared in the Tower. Through the open door, the breeze danced on her face and the sound of the feast and celebration drifted into her ears. There she was, alone and hidden in the Tower, silently cursing her arrival, while the rest of the school laughed together and celebrated their return to Hogwarts. How ironic.

Kate stood at the window, cold sweat still rolling down her body. She had woken terrified of a dream she couldn't remember and unable to lie back into sleep, she'd gotten up for some air. Chilled night air of late autumn danced around her face at the open window. There was a strange call, something like harp music, echoing up from far below her tower. Leaning out of the window, she saw nothing but the bizarre music built up unease in the pit of her chest until it reached a physical pain in her stomach. A cat meowed, startling Kate so that she slipped off the sill she was perched on. She landed like the cat, too, silently and on all fours. There was a cat, sitting on the floor like a sphinx. Kate wondered how on earth it got into the Tower. The cat had a coat of luminous black fur that moved luxuriously over its muscles and bones like a scrap of silk as it prowled toward the door and looked back at Kate with its sapphire eyes. Again, it meowed. A command.

With a quick look over her shoulder, she felt the uneasy pit of her stomach solidify with a decision. Kate slipped out the door to follow her guide. With bare feet, Kate made no noise creeping down the uncountable stone steps in the dark. The candle in her hand burned silently, sending bobbing shadows against the walls. The cat led her outside, from a side door at the base of the tower, to a gated garden Kate had never noticed, even from the height of the Tower. Kate couldn't believe she'd never seen it before. It was huge; definitely an eyesore put side by side with the tidy plains of grass. A circular gate fissured the wall of whitish stone. A round door with a knob in the center blocked her way. Kate's hand found the warm metal, but it was locked. She tried jarring it, banging it with her shoulder, but it wouldn't open. She stepped back, rubbing at her sore shoulder and blinked. Kate touched the wooden door again. Tingly warmth seeped through her fingers, seeping into her arm. She was stuck to the door like a child with her finger in an electrical outlet. But it wasn't entirely unpleasant. The warmth that emitted from it made her feel safe. Kate's breathing slowed and grew louder.

Suddenly, the ground fell from beneath her and she was standing on the other side of the door. But from this side, there door was invisible. She could see the door she'd come from at the base of the Tower. Everything had the nighttime dream-like quality. The harp song played on. Kate followed the flawlessly cut stones that etched a path through the garden in the teal-dyed grass. The stones themselves were a bluish tint in the light of the crescent moon and indicated a winding path to a temple. Bushes with flowers Kate couldn't examine as closely as she liked in the darkness lined the garden. The Temple was open, its walls nonexistent, beams cut from marble suspending a ceiling a good six feet in the air. Her jaw hanging open, Kate wandered under the Temple roof. The insides of the shafts held shelves. On the shelves, merely slats of wood, books and statuettes of the Greek muses and Hindu gods and goddesses sit untouched by the wind. At the end of the Temple, a copper statue of a woman gleamed, shooting rays of light onto the different brown floor tiles. Then it was gone.

Kate was standing on the outside of the garden, her palm pressed against the solid wood of the door. Sweat was beaded on her upper lip as Kate blinked and stepped away. The black cat meowed from the top of the wall where she was perched and jumped in one fluid movement to the ground where she nuzzled Kate's bare ankles.

"Kali?" The name had come to Kate automatically. Kali meowed her agreement and fled by Kate's side up to her warm bed in the Tower.


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

Up in the tallest room of the Tower, Severus sat in one of the plain black leather chairs, staring out the window. Outside, streaks of sunlight spilt down to earth, parting the gray clouds like water breaking against stone. There was so much to tell her. So much she needed to know. He heard her footsteps first, then saw her enter, the black cat at her heel. He'd never seen here mother without the black cat either.

"Good morning to you, Kathleen."

"And the same to you, Severus. You're being pleasant this morning." Kate smiled over the rim of the cup of tea he'd given her. Pleasantly warm to her fingers, Kate sipped the steaming liquid. The astringent aroma camped out in her nose. Chamomile.

"Sara?" Severus squinted at Kali.

"No…this is _Kali_, Severus. Not Sara," Kate corrected.

"Ah, I must be mistaken. I could have sworn… Your mother, as I recall, had one just like her. Sara was her name."

Kate was uncomfortable hearing talk of her mother. Especially about something they shared. "A descendant daughter, maybe," she said awkwardly, looking away.

"Yes, I suppose." Severus was being meek that morning. The subject of Diana was a touchy topic. "What were you doing in the Temple Garden?"

"You saw that? How?"

"Never mind how. Why were you poking around there last night?"

"I don't know. I just felt it, I guess. What's inside?" Kate already knew, but she needed reassurance for what she saw.

"I have no way of knowing that, Kathleen. I've never been inside. Why? Did you see something?" He said _see _like he knew there was more to her story.

Kate nodded timidly.

"Your gift is advancing quickly. More so than I expected." His eyes dulled as if lost in a memory of long ago as Kate watched him.

"What gift?"

Snape cocked an eyebrow as if she'd gone simple. "Clairvoyance. The gift of _visions_," he said as if talking to a child. "Your mother had the gift. It was assumed you would as well."

"Oh. What's in the Temple? The one in the Garden?" Kate quivered at the memory of her vision. She was afraid of it, of the control it took from her.

"You've been_ inside_? They are working in haste…"

"Yes. That's what I saw," she repeated. "Who are _they_?" Kate thought of the strange harp music that called her to the garden.

Severus looked away from her again. "Forces. Energies. I don't know. You can't see them, but they are always there. Always controlling the trials of men, as they have for centuries, for nearly two millennia of human life. They are always watching, Kathleen." Snape stopped again, as if just the process of sharing this was draining him. "The Temple Garden. Only those _ready_ to see it will be able to see. Only the _chosen _will see it. You must be ready for its secrets, Kathleen. There is no other option. You must be ready for what lies within it, ready to be the Guardian of the Temple."

Kate sighed and asked again. He was going senile. "Do you…know what's in the Temple?"

Severus seemed to consider this for a moment, as if in another time, exploring. "The Temple holds the secret to all the evils in the world. It is rumored that the weapon of the Dark Lord resides there. In truth, I do not know what exactly is inside. I have never been there. Only a Guardian may enter. I have only theories."

"How, exactly, does one become a Guardian?"

"It's hereditary, Kathleen. I know your mother, Diana, never told you about it. She rejected the charge assigned her when you were a child. Diana thought the job to be…well, dangerous. Too dangerous for a child to be raised around. The gift to open the Garden runs through the female line." There he stopped. He shook his head and stood. He mumbled at her. "You should be discovering this on your own. Not hearing it from me. I've said too much. Goodbye, Kathleen." And again, he left her confused with a swish of his black cloak.

Days passed, turned into months and Kate remained in the Tower, watching everything from a window high in a Tower. Invisible. The air grew colder, urging the students indoors. The lake froze over and the ever-graying clouds poured the silky smooth layer of white snow over Hogwarts. Fluffy bunches of snowflakes softened the appearance of the land until it was Christmas. Since most students had gone home for the break, Dumbledore gave Kate a break from the Tower. She could roam the school as she liked for the two week holiday. Virtually only seven students had stayed behind; she only had to steer clear of them to earn her short-lived freedom.

On the first Monday morning of Kate's freedom, she woke early to begin her exploration of the mysterious Hogwarts castle. Dressed in a linen wizard's robe and warm cloak, her dark curls pulled back as securely as the pins would allow, she galloped down the many steps of the Tower and outside into the powdery snow. Making deep trails with her boots in the snow, Kate could see the Garden. A thick sheet of the airy snow sat on the ledge of the stone wall and the snow that lie before lay unmarked. Like Severus had said, only she could see the Garden. Kate hadn't tried again to enter the Garden. For one, the nights had turned bitterly cold and in the open Temple, there would surely be no heat. Two, Kate wasn't quite ready to face the Temple again. Not after it had thrown her in a vision, out of control. In Kate's arms, Kali was tucked into the cloak, sharing Kate's body heat. She was heading toward Hagrid's hut on the other side of the grounds, tucked into the outskirts of the forest. Smoke from a fire spilled out of a cobblestone chimney, dispersing into the air like a million tiny bats. The quaint little cabin stood picturesque against the dark of the forest, Kate thought walking up the steps. She knocked once. Twice. Kate hoped Hagrid was home or wasn't already busy. She had come unannounced so maybe she was unwanted. But perhaps he could answer some of Kate's questions. After all, as Groundskeeper, the Garden would be in his power.

Kate heard murmuring inside, a dark barking, then the door opened. The giant of a man with a massive amount of wiry black hair covering his whole head opened the door. A rather large and intimidating hound was pressing against Hagrid to see their guest. Kate gulped and felt Kali squirm in her arms.

"Back, Fang. Back…" Hagrid said to the dog, pressing him back into the cabin with a hand. "How can I help, ye, miss?" he directed at Kate. He was staring at Kate's wild eyes, burning with curiosity.

"I--I just had a few questions, Mister err…Hagrid."

The colossal man called Hagrid eyed her suspiciously but stepped aside to let her in, holding Fang's collar. "Err…come in, then." Her odd green eyes reminded him of someone he couldn't quite remember.

Kate muttered her thanks and stepped inside, the heat from the fire bathing her face. At the warmth, Kali jumped from Kate's arms and onto the wooden floor. Bizarrely, Fang and Kali seemed to have an understanding. They were friends. Both Kate and Hagrid watched in awe as the huge slobbering dog and the elegant black cat padded to the back of the cabin and sat together, sharing in some secret joke.

"Wow. Didn' expect tha to happen. Sit down, then."

Kate sat at the table and accepted the tea Hagrid offered. He settled himself in the chair across from her. "Hagrid, what do you know about the Temple Garden?"

Another suspicious look over the rim of the teacup. "Before I answer tha, you'd best tell me who yah are, miss."

"I'm Kathleen Bennett."

That didn't satisfy him. "Your _whole_ name, miss."

Kate was confused, but she answered anyway. "Kathleen Clara Rose Bennett, if you must know."

_Clara Rose_. Diana's daughter. The next Guardian, if the legend was to be believed. Hagrid himself believed it to be something Dumbledore made up. But Hagrid trusted Hagrid beyond words. So he believed it. He cleared his throat. "I don't righ'ly know, miss. I've never had a key to it. I don' even know where it is. I've been 'ere all me life and I've never seen it. It's my guess that it's a myth. Nothin' more." He changed the subject, "I'm terribly sorry 'bout your mum, now, and your dad. That's a tragedy, that is. They was powerful for our side, they were."

Kate smiled and sipped her tea. Hagrid obviously didn't know about the Garden and she didn't want to hear about her dead parents. Not just yet. When only dregs remained at the bottom of the cup, Kate thanked Hagrid for his help and gathered Kali in her arms, headed out into the snow once again, towards the castle.

Inside the primary bulk of the fortress that was Hogwarts, Kate wandered about the corridors, her cloak abandoned in a dark corner at the front doors and Kali stalking beside her. Kate glimpsed into a room once in a while, just empty classrooms, unused during the break. The heaviness of dreams suddenly fell upon her shoulders and she blinked slowly, fighting the sensations. It was happening again. Another vision. Again, her breathing slowed and grew loud, filling her ears until it consumed her.

Kate was inside the Garden once again, starting in the Temple. As if it were the Red Sea parting, books moved apart on a shelf to reveal a box slowly opening. Inside, it was blackness. The blackness was seeping out, darkening her vision. Then, she was running, away from the blackness. Kate didn't run out of the Garden, but through it. And it seemed to go on forever. She ran past a hill overlooking a lake with a bridge and another smaller pond, made private with the covering of green trees. She ran away from the ever-growing shadow, ran and ran and ran. Finally, she collapsed with exhaustion to her knees under the overcast sky that was growing darker by the second. She was crying with frustration and fear at the darkness covering her. Breath heavy and difficult, she couldn't do it anymore. Kate's whole body shook and twitched violently and it was over. The vision spit her out of its grasp and into reality.


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

The next day, Kate woke lightheaded. Vaguely she could remember the dancing candlelight shining from the sconces when she stirred after passing out, taking a nasty fall to the head. Her skull throbbing, she had stumbled back to the Tower in the snow. By dawn, the puddles tracing her path to bed were the only things left.

Months passed, along with bitter winter and the heaps of snow tossed upon Hogwarts. Kate remained in the Tower, generally trying to ignore the students of Hogwarts scurrying about on the spacious grounds below, frantic in the face of finals drawing so near, fighting the strain of spring fever breaking out among them. Dumbledore, Severus, and Remus had done their best to make the Tower comfortable--and it was--but Kate was always wishing for more, wishing for freedom after nearly a whole term of solitude in the Tower. Only weeks after her arrival at Hogwarts, the Tower had been refurnished to Kate's taste. She'd never take much stock in it before. Never noticed it, really. The haunting visions had kept her more than occupied. Mostly, she had closed her mind to them, closing off a piece of herself she was glad to stray from, a piece she feared. A piano in the corner, big windows paned with glass, hardwood in place of the cold stone floors; it had all been done in the darkness of night, of course, to keep Kate a secret within Hogwarts. Happy enough in waking, Kate was satisfied with her retreat, but a desperate panic was growing inside her with the arrival of spring. It clenched her soul in waking, in dreams, and recently, in visions. Far more powerful than the typical bout of spring fever. The terrible and soul clasping freezing came most frequently at night, when she was vulnerable. Kate would wake in the secure dark of the Tower, drenched in cold sweat. And it was terrorizing.

Parting a path through the darkness, Kate wandered through the corridors of Hogwarts, silently like a ghost. Dressed and covered by her invisibility cloak, she went undetected. She was barefoot--the echo of shoes on the marble floor could not be risked--and walking outside, the chilled grass of a spring morning was welcome between her toes. Wind whipped through her thick mane of hair, slender waves of it stuck in the crease of her lips. An agonizing song escaped her lips, lilting into the night air. The despair weaving through the patterns of the wind made Kate feel better, lighter. It was her pain being released. The pain of being caged, of the uneasiness she felt about the Garden, her family, everything. It all seemed so hopeless. Until the rosy breaking of dawn, the sad, forlorn song echoed around the grounds of Hogwarts, finding a home in the ears of the person who could free her, if unintentionally.

A restless Draco Malfoy squirmed under the sheets of his four poster bed, watching the night wind breeze through the open window and stirring his partially open bed curtains. Even over his writhing, the seventeen year old could hear his roommates' loud breathing from the beds next to him. Draco couldn't shake the thought from his mind that someone was singing to him. A lullaby of a sort. In waking, he could have sworn he heard a song. A sad, mournful song that called to him. It drew him in like a moth to a burning candle that threatened to either dazzle him with beauty or burn him to ashes. It tickled his soul like a soft feather and it surprised him. The desolation of it made him want to change, to be a better person. It gave him life in his unresponsive body and he wanted more of it. Dressed, Draco Malfoy slipped into the darkness of the empty castle in search of attracted him so acutely.

Ironically, her feet led Kate to the one place she desperately didn't want to be. The Temple Garden emerged like a monster from the shadows as Kate approached. The distinctive apprehension it threw at her filled her stomach but there was no turning back now. She felt it. Tonight, they would let her in. She was ready.

The tarnished silver knob turned easily this time and the circular door opened for her. No vision. Unexpectedly, Kali turned up and followed Kate in, padding softly in the cool grass. They walked over the paving stones, cold under Kate's bare feet. The invisibility cloak had been thrown aside; she didn't need it here. Kate found her way to the Temple. Everything was the same as it had been in her vision. Only this time, it didn't seem to sharp, so stark in the moonlight. The coating of the buttery moonlight in actuality had softened it. Kate wasn't afraid. She felt peace and was certain this was right. She was supposed to be here.

The statue of the woman, her face smoothed out by immeasurable age, shot a streak of brassy light into a dark shelf. From atop the woman's head, Kali jumped in one graceful movement to the shelf where the golden light pointed. Like a leprechaun on a rainbow. Several books fell to the floor when Kali landed, sending up a plume of dust. Coughing, Kate waved away the dust and bent to gather the books, but something on the shelf sending a flick of golden light caught her eye. A box. The box.

The box, seamlessly formed of a tinny metal, flashed at her. Kate reached up, and this time, she didn't fall. Kate's fingers tingled as she pulled the box down from the shelf and took a seat on the stone floor to better examine it. Kali's sapphire eyes beckoned toward the box. _Curiosity got the cat_, Kate thought, but her own ferocious desire to know what was inside got the best of her. Kate pulled at the lid, easing the hinge. Somewhere far off, the harp's tune grew ugly. In place of soft, tranquil tunes, a harsh and dangerous melody resonated in Kate's ears. The box, however, wouldn't open. She even tried prying it open with a stone, but the hinge wouldn't budge.

Tired, Kate lay back on the cool of the stone floor. Kali nuzzled her clenched hand. _Why can't I open it? _Kali nudged her hand again. She obliged and scratched Kali's ears. What seemed like an epiphany came. She couldn't open it because she wasn't ready. Emotionally, in her mind, for what would come of it. She hoped.

The terrible vision Kate had about opening the box resurfaced in Kate's mind. Her body tensed and Kali was suddenly arched and hissing, spitting at the box, sitting tauntingly on the floor a few feet from them. Kate's breath was rapid and harsh. Trembling, she replaced the box on the shelf and hid it behind the books. Kali tore from the Temple and Kate flashed after her.

Well out of the garden, Kate turned around a hedge and ran headlong into a boy. His platinum hair lit up his pale, pointed face. He was more a man than a boy, actually. His eyes were haunted with the hardness of first-hand experience and heartache. The force of the collision knocked them both to the ground. The invisibility cloak fell into the grass, useless. He'd seen her. Staggering, Kate found her footing and stood, as did the boy. Kali leapt into Kate's arms and hissed at the prowler. Kate suddenly wished she were wearing more than the thin material of her nightgown in the warm summer night. She pressed Kali into her chest to hide the form of her body in the moonlight. She was spellbound by him.

"What was that? _Who _are you?" the boy breathed. He was beautiful in the sheer moonlight, Kate thought. His face was all broad lines and milky skin. Cobalt eyes so pale they were almost white glinted at Kate with interest. Without thinking, Kate stepped through the wet lawn toward him. He didn't move away.

"Kate," she whispered and Kali tore from her arms to the ground. The boy reached out and touched one of the locks of her waving hair, toying with it. "I should ask the same of you." Kate didn't pull away from his touch. It was a bold move, or lack of, and Kate didn't feel bold at all.

"No. You're _real_ name." He whispered, his voice gravely deep with a maddening hint of arrogance. His silvery gaze locked with Kate's for a long moment. Breaking the eerie mood, Kali yelped loudly, waking Kate from her stupor. The second time someone wanted to know her 'real' name.

Kate swallowed hard. It didn't look like a good idea, giving her name to people she didn't know. She was after all, in hiding. But then again, there were no bad choices, only different ones. And besides, she felt something for this boy. Like somehow he could be trusted. "Kathleen Clara Rose."

He grinned darkly. "I knew you'd come, Katie. I could feel it." His platinum hair fell in his eyes haughtily; he already _knew _her.

Kate felt like she knew him, too. A bone deep, ages long knowing of him. Not just physically, though. Not just like the way his shaggy hair grew around his ears, the shape of his hands, and the way his body felt curled around hers. She knew his determination; his recklessness; his dark, ruthless side; and the side he never showed where he cared so deeply for her.

His sturdy arms pulled her into him, pressing them together. Taken aback, Kate couldn't bring herself to say anything. He leaned in and kissed her once, then meshed his fingers in her hair so she couldn't pull away and kissed her again. Slipping his tongue between her lips he took her breath away and she loved it. Kate hated herself for loving it, for letting him take something unnamable from her. She didn't even know his name.

Kate finally tore herself away, her eyes half-blinded with tears. He was like her visions. They pulled her in fiercely and never let her go.

He laughed knowingly. "I'm Draco," he smirked, backing away into the darkness. Kate tried to yell after him, but found she didn't have any words left.


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

Kate slouched her shoulder blades, her back against the cold marble of a pillar of the Temple, a book in hand. She'd pulled the dusty book from a shelf. Not one hiding the box, of course. The cover was in surprisingly good shape, its binding hand-sewn and passed down through generations of women in the Temple. And it was handwritten. Perfect, curly black script filled the parchment, carefully dried to avoid smudging. She'd come at night, as usual, but this time she'd brought a stash of candles. Setting a rough loop of them around her and lighting them, she could read easily. The flames flickered slightly in the light wind, but otherwise, the Temple was peaceful. Kali lie in Kate's lap, basking in the glow of the firelight and glancing lazily at the attractive text. Little by little, her breathing slowed and thickened and she wasn't in the Temple bathed in candlelight anymore.

Hovering somewhere above the Garden walls like an apparition, Kate saw movement in the shadows. She was unseen, floating there, suspended in the weak light. From far off, she could see the wavy shadows of her candles in the Temple. Kate caught her breath. The shadows were moving again. Someone was there, waiting for her.

Back in the Temple, Kate sucked air into her lungs like a victim of drowning. With a decisive push, the wind picked up, extinguishing the candles in one blow. Kali meowed at Kate, padding toward the round door to leave. Sighing, Kate stood and replaced the book along. She brushed herself off and followed Kali over the stones, convincing herself that there was no one outside the Garden, waiting to ambush her. Even if there was, they couldn't see the Garden anyway. Or her, for that matter. Kate would have the invisibility cloak if she needed it. But she doubted she would.

Tentatively, she turned the silver knob and pushed the round door open. Kali prowled out in front of her, stalking into the trimmed grass. Just out of the corner of her eye, Kate detected a hint of movement from the corner. Tensed and ready to run, Kate edged toward it. She reached her hands out to touch it… it was only a bush. She had been scared of a rosebush. Kate laughed at herself from under the cloak. She backed out from the corner and her heart stopped. She had bumped into something. Something solid. A someone. In the clumsy process of turning around, the cloak slipped from Kate's shoulder.

Draco laughed.

"That wasn't funny! Quit smirking!" Kate fumed, crossing her arms. "I really thought I was in trouble, Draco." Without warning, tears came to Kate's eyes. No matter how much Kate thought she'd matured, she always went back to a small child when she cried.

Draco pulled her into his arms, her head against his collarbone. "It's okay, Katie. I've scared you," he said softly in her ear. "Listen, I'm sorry. I…I just needed to see you. Okay?" he soothed.

Her ear pressed against Draco's collar, Kate wiped at her tears furiously. She knew it was okay, nobody was hurt, she was safe; but she couldn't stop herself. "And I already feel guilty for being here anyway…"

Draco stroked her hair awkwardly, calming her. He wasn't good at this. After awhile, she stopped crying and they stood together in the shadows. "I'm sorry for scaring you, Kate. I just wanted to see you, to talk to you again. And I knew you'd be here…at the Garden…" His pale eyes alighted with a innate fire.

Kate pulled away from his arm thrown over her shoulder. "You…you can _see_ the Garden?"

Draco laughed and teased. "Yes, Katie. What did you think? That I just wander around the grounds, looking for girls?"

Kate didn't answer, but relaxed into his arm again. Somehow, in some mysterious way she couldn't explain, even to herself, she was drawn to him, bound to him, in the same way he was drawn to her.

"I knew you'd come, Kate. I just knew it. You'd come to me eventually. You couldn't stay away for long." He kissed her cheek, her ear. Light kisses, like a breath. He yawned and stood up. "I have to go. Meet me here tomorrow night?"

Kate nodded and smiled. He pulled her up by the wrist and planted his mouth on hers, leaving her breathless. Again, he disappeared into the shadow into a world she couldn't follow him into.

Walking back to the Tower, Kate grinned. Suddenly, she felt good. Draco really did make her feel better. Better than being trapped in her infernal cage. Feeling light and airy, she ran all the way back to the Tower.

More often than not, Kate and Draco would secretly meet in the night, outside the Temple Garden walls. They strolled around the grounds holding hands, watching the moon rise and the beautiful scenery around them bloom into summer. When they were together, both of them felt whole and alive. And they reveled in the glory of it.

Within a matter of weeks, the school term would end. Kate already knew she was staying at Hogwarts for the summer. Dumbledore had told her so. The great war was still raging, though on the inside of Hogwarts, it went unnoticed. They were kids still and Hogwarts gave them time to be kids. For the summer months, the Order had relocated to the refuge of Hogwarts and Kate, along with the rest of her family, would be there under Dumbledore's protection. But Draco was another matter entirely.

"Well, after school ends, we could escape. Go somewhere where none of them could find us," Draco imagined one night when they laid under the stars. Draco took her hand and kissed the knuckles, his eyes sparkling with promise and ambition and hope.

"Draco, you know that isn't possible. It can't happen. You'll go away. Go home to your family, and I'll…stay here. Where it's safe." Kate pulled her hand away, sat up. She felt like she was stomping on his dreams and she knew that by telling him where she was staying during the summer was treading dangerously close to the fire that could burn them all up. Kate knew who his father was. Who he was--what the name Malfoy was, what it stood for. But she trusted him to keep her secret.

"But…" Draco twiddled a piece of grass between his fingers. He couldn't think of anything to say to that. It was the truth. The bloody miserable truth.

"Come on. We'll deal with it when it comes. Okay?" she soothed and put on a silly grin. "Promise me," she pouted, her eyes shining with smiles.

Draco couldn't resist it. He smiled too. "Okay. I promise." He stood, pulling her up with him, and laughed.

One night, Kate and Draco were near the Garden, resting against the Garden wall. They were spending more and more time there. Draco stroked Kali's feather-soft head. Kate ran her hands over all she could reach, her fingers tracing the cuts of stone marked in the wall.

Kate was standing in a field. A field of golden wheat, blowing in the wind against her bare legs, making them itch. It was daytime in the Garden. It didn't look like the Garden, but Kate knew where she was. The impression was the same. Two children, a slight girl with golden braids the same brightness as the wheat and a boy, maybe a couple years older, with long black hair touching his shoulders, spilled through the pliant stalks down an unseen path. They seemed to know the way, where they were going. In a moment, they vanished. They were nowhere to be seen, their laughter gone. The next, a young woman and man strolled through the field, paying to attention to the scratchy shoots scraping at their legs. Her flaxen hair waved down past her shoulders and she was lovely. He wore all black and his straight black hair fell into his dark eyes. The smiles and silly grins they wore were only for each other and their hands were laced together. He kissed her cheek. They were dimly familiar to Kate and disappeared just as the children had. Another man and woman appeared. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a bun and she was crying. He looked wild with anger. And injured, like a caged lion. They were yelling something at each other, incensed words Kate couldn't hear. Finally, she pulled a ring off her finger and tossed it to him. He caught it and stared into his hands. He obviously couldn't believe what was happening. She was gone. A single tear streaked down his ashen cheek, quick as lightening, as he stared at where she'd been standing. Then with a blink, he too, was gone.

Kate's frame convulsed and she gasped for air. She knew those people. In the vision. The merry children, the lovesick teenagers, the sad adults. They were all the same people. The woman was her mother, Diana Bennett. And the man was Severus Snape.

"Kate? Kate? What's wrong? What happened?" Draco was on his knees, holding her hands. His eyes were worried and shaken.

Kate shook her head. She struggled to keep her voice level. "I'm okay. Just…just a premonition."

"Are you sure? I felt…you were _there_. And then you weren't. I thought…oh Merlin…" He pulled her against his chest, breathing in her reassuring scent. "I _saw_ you there. And you passed out…I couldn't _feel_ you anymore, Kate."

When the moment was over, Kate grinned perceptively. "You can _feel_ me?"

Draco looked away, his eyes clouding over. "Yes. Strong with you, though," he said sheepishly. He didn't get the teasing.

"I need to sleep, Draco. I've got some things to muse about, to ponder," Kate laughed.

Draco wasn't in the jesting mood. "Do you need to tell me anything?"

Kate kissed him. "No. I don't think so."


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

Kate pulled the invisibility cloak, a relic from the house in France, away from her body, its thin material creating a static zap on her skin.

"I knew you'd be visiting shortly, Miss Bennett." Sibyll Trelawney hunched in the chair in her office; her watery eyes evaluated the young woman standing before her through her thick glasses. This girl was different from her mother; stronger. Steel and silver, maybe; not delicate gold like her mother. "They have brought you here for answers Professor Snape has no plans of giving you."

Kate stared. "How could you know I'd be coming?" She almost said she thought the lined woman before her was a fake.

"You are forgetting you are not the only clairvoyant here, Kathleen. It's not a very common gift here. What will you do with it?" she said superiorly. She pointed her bejeweled fingers to a chair.

Kate shied away. "I don't think…" She sunk into the chair.

"It's a gift at all?" she finished Kate's sentence. "Yes, that's what I thought at first, too. When my grandmother told me so very long ago… You look very much like your mother, you must have seen it. It's those strange eyes. Very penetrating and unnerving to the unseeing, perhaps." She took Kate's hands.

"You, _knew_ my mother?"

"Yes, my dear. And what a terrible story it is. It broke your mother's heart, leaving, it did. Hurt Severus quite a bit, now too. Poor lad, he's never been the same."

"Severus? How'd she hurt him?" Kate already knew how. She'd thrown his ring right back into his face.

Sibyll looked unnerved. And not because of the wild green eyes probing her conscience. "Oh my. You don't _know_, do you, child?"  
Kate shook her head. She felt thick. Not knowing the story of someone as close as her own mother.

Sibyll started in on the dramatics she knew best, throwing the mass of wispy and colorful scarves behind her shoulders. "I know the history of the legend you have just only touched upon, Kathleen. What Professor Snape has told you is only the tip of the iceberg." She pulled an album from her desk. "I sensed you'd be coming, so I pulled this from the archives." She opened the album, flipping to a particular page and slid the book to Kate. It was a photo album. On one page was a picture of her grandmother, mother, and in the arms of her mother, was Kate herself, a small child. Her mother was smiling dutifully for the yearbook, it seemed.

"It's a family photo…I've seen it before." Kate continued to scan the book, turning a page or so. The whole of two pages had pictures of her family in it. All waving and smiling up at her. Her great-grandmother, alone in a black and white shot; then with her great-grandfather, both of them waving and beaming up at her in their colorless pose. On the next page, her grandmother Helen, then Helen with her grandfather Sam. The Grahams. Kate's breath caught in her chest like a bird caged. Beside the picture of her mother was a shot her mother and Severus Snape. They were young and grinning into the camera. Their tanned faces were radiant with happiness as they beamed up at her holding hands, waving as if they had no care in the world. Kate's father was nowhere to be seen. Just like her vision.

Sibyll caught the look on Kate's face. "Oh, but it is, Kathleen. These are photographs of the Guardians. A track record, if you will. There is a pair of Guardians chosen in each generation. And yes, Severus Snape and your mother were to be next in line." She said the last part more softly, trying to break the news gently. "They were engaged at one point, if I remember properly."

Kate raged against herself in the need to know what had happened to the happy couple and wanting to push the whole disturbing thing away from her. "What happened to them?"

"I normally would have asked Diana--your mother--to tell you … and Severus probably won't share much with you--oh, here it is. Diana, your mother, and Severus graduated from Hogwarts, planning to get married and accept the Guardianship, freely and gladly. Diana had wanted so badly to get out in the world, have a career. If only for a little while. So they moved to London for a brief time, and she worked for the Ministry of Magic. There she met Clark, your father, an English representative with the French Ministry. The two fell madly in love and Diana had a choice to make. And she chose Clark Bennett." Sibyll said this with a trace of resentment in her misty voice. "She accepted the Guardianship alone. Clark was no Guardian, he could never accept it. But yes, he knew about it and probably helped her though it a great deal. Diana left Severus and, to be perfectly honest, it's been hard on him. Turned him bitter--not against you, mind, but against Albus, Helen, and I for allowing it. Not against Diana or Clark, thought. He's your godfather, is he not? He never hears a word against her. Never Diana… Merlin rest their souls, your poor parents."

Kate didn't know how to feel about this news. Resentment toward her mother at first, then she remembered the letter, the fact that she was dead, and sympathized with her.

Kate gulped, unsure if she wanted to go any further down this unsure path. "Severus told me he'd never been inside the Garden. Why is that? If he was the next male Guardian…?"

Sibyll got that far away haziness Severus has fallen under earlier. "The female Guardian must unlock it first. Then, she lets him in. From that, they are bound together until the next Guardian, always a daughter, can take over."

"Then what is the Guardian supposed to _guard_?"

"You, Kathleen, are the Guardian of the Temple. You'd better accept it sooner rather than later. It's easier that way. As to what the Temple holds, I don't presume to know. Don't want to know. Only a Guardian does, and the last one was your mother. And…"

"She's dead."

"Yes." She shifted in her seat and dabbed at the corners of her squinty eyes with her shawl. "You'd best be going, Kathleen. I feel a drastic change in your aura and I think it best if you go to avoid polluting my classroom."

Kate nodded and thanked the woman for her help. Maybe she was a phony, but she still possessed wisdom of things Kate didn't and couldn't know.

An idea held strong in mind, Kate flew down to the Garden, Kali keeping pace, merely a darker shadow on the moonless night.. The deranged clairvoyant had said something about that _she _could let him in. Kate hoped he was ready for it. Draco was far behind, walking across the wet grass, confused. When Draco arrived, Kate was flat against the circular door. Her ear was pressed hard against the wood, listening. Eyes closed and fingers spread over the grainy door. She wasn't opening it, just breathing it seemed.

Her eyes snapped open and she staggered back, away from the door.

Draco smirked. "What on earth were you _doing_?"

She raised a brow. "I was _feeling_."

"What for?"

Kate was feeling particularly enigmatic that night. "For an answer, of course," she teased.

"What is the answer then, my Katie?" Draco was in a playful mood.

"They said 'yes.'" Kate grinned.

"Who said 'yes'?" Draco leaned and kissed her cheek.

Kate didn't answer him and slipped an arm around his waist. A wind blew through their hair, blowing Kate's dark into Draco's light. Yin and yang. Women and men. Balance.

"Are you ready?" Kate peered up through her penetrating greens.

"For what?"

Kate whispered wisely. "The Garden. The Temple. All of it."

Draco didn't understand.

"I'm opening the Garden for you. Tonight. We can go in together now." Kate could barely hold back her excitement.

Draco straightened. "Are you sure, Kate? Because…there's no turning back after this. You know that."

Kate held her hands on the sides of his face. Their eyes locked. "Yes, Draco. I've thought about this. I'm sure. I want to share this with you."

He nodded.

Stepping away from him, Kate moved to the door. She turned the handle and stepped through. "Come on," she urged him through the other side.

"That's it?"

Kate nodded and stepped backwards into the Garden. He stood there, frozen. With a gentle sigh, Kate reached out and took his hand, guiding him through the door. He was in. Kali meowed from the top of the wall. Even years later, in remembrance, Kate felt the intimacy of his kisses, that first night in the Garden. A promise. They were bound together now.


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

Kate and Draco lay under the plump shade of a birch tree, the leaves creating dapples of moonlight on their skin. They were in the Garden, but away from the Temple. Ready as Draco was for the Garden, neither of them was eager to visit the Temple. Kate had told him about her vision, the one about opening the box and they agreed they would stay away from it, for now. A special magic seemed to reside within the Garden, making its space seem bigger than it appeared on the outside. From where they lie, the great wall couldn't be seen and a brook babbled to Draco's right.

Earlier that day, Kate had gone to Dumbledore, to tell him of Draco and the Garden. It hadn't gone well. Neither Dumbledore nor McGonagall thought Draco had a chance of becoming the Guardian, even though he could see the Garden. Severus had taken Kate's side and agreed and Remus had sat quietly in the corner, not saying a word. The whole meeting had ended in Kate storming out of Dumbledore's office.

"So they don't like me. I've never cared about it before. Why start now?" he said, cold and bitter. His grip on her hand tightened slightly.

Kate knew he was trying to ignore their harsh words, act like it didn't matter, but she could see it clearly did. The frustration was in his eyes--they never lied to her, even if his words did. He stroked her hand absently and his eyes were closed, the blonde lashes creating dark shadows on his pronounced cheekbones. He was on the verge of sleep. Spending nights outside with Kate was wearing him out. He staggered through the day, half asleep. Kate had tried to get him to go back to bed, to take a break from their midnight walks, many a night, but he wouldn't hear of it. The magic of the Garden had helped some, rejuvenating him a little every day, but he was still exhausted. Kate rolled onto her side.

"You're the next Guardian, Draco. You know that. I know that. It wasn't right of them to say what they did. About you; about us. It wasn't fair. You deserve a fair chance."

Draco pulled his hands away and sat up. His eyes were shadowed from lack of sleep and shuddered when he glanced her way. "What if I don't want a chance? Did you ever think that I might have to leave?" he snapped.

"I know you have to leave. For the summer. But we'll have next year, you'll be back. We'll see each other then."

"You don't understand, Kate. My father…I'm going into the…family business." He stood and turned his back to her, ashamed. He said the last words like they were poison.

Kate knew what he meant. They couldn't see each other again. By this time the next year, he'd be a Death Eater. Kate couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You'd leave me?" she straightened slowly, whispering.

He didn't answer and didn't look back at her.

"Leave, then." Kate's voice was no more than a breath of wind and she tore out of the Garden.

Kate lie in bed, tucked under the blankets. The Tower was blistering hot and humid from the recent storm. Even in the insufferable heat, she was shivering. Her pale hands stroked Kali who slept contentedly in the warmth. She was, for once, Draco free. Lately, he chased her around at night like a demented wasp in a jar. He crackled with nervous energy, threatening to burn up at any second. And it had pushed her into the seclusion of her Tower. She couldn't face him. Nor could she believe he would walk away so freely from their responsibility. And from her, but she wouldn't and couldn't admit that just yet, that she was bound to him as she wanted him to be to her. She had trusted him and let him into the Garden. And he was leaving.

"Kate?" Remus' effortless quiet voice stirred her restless mind. Her lips had taken on a bluish tint and trembled as they ushered in shallow breaths to her parched lungs with a rattling sound. Kate felt a large hand, cool and reassuring and strong, on her forehead. Severus' voice mumbled something about a fire. She tried to open her eyes, but was soon breathing harder from the effort.

"She's ill." Remus said to Snape.

"No. Really?" Severus said sarcastically. In a moment, Kate could hear liquid swishing around in a vile then felt the chill of icy glass pressing her lips. A bitter, sickly sweet liquid more fluid than water trickled down her throat. A little at a time until it was gone. Soon, warmth seeped through her body, finding each individual vein one by one. Kate could sense their presence from their bickering, but her consciousness was slowly ebbing away and she lolled into a healing, dreamless sleep.

For weeks, Draco was restless. Between his classes and Quidditch practice, with the added homework and extensive studying for exams, Draco barely had time to visit Kate. Or as close to visiting as he could get. For a couple hours at the very least, he would sit back against cold stone at the base of the Tower. That was as near to her as he could be. Draco didn't dare to enter the Tower to see her face. He knew she was very ill. He'd heard that much from overhearing Snape and Lupin entering and exiting at all times of the day, muttering in subdued voices. Draco knew that if he broke into the Tower, the consequences would be severe. For both of them and he couldn't risk not seeing her at all when she got better. Another reason was he felt he didn't really deserve to see her. Not after the way he'd snapped at her in the Garden. That was weeks before and the guilt was building and building on his shoulders like a brick wall growing taller and longer every day.

Darkness had fallen and Draco pressed his back into the stone of the Tower as if by sheer force, he could push himself through the walls and see her. He was half asleep, eyes closed and arms resting on the knees of his drawn-up legs. He looked tired and worn out, sitting there. His champagne hair was untidy and he'd rolled up his sleeves to the elbow.

"Draco?" A male voice, deep and soft, prodded him.

"Yes? What do you want?" he muttered. Draco didn't care that he was breaking a school rule right now. He was too tired and too stubborn to worry about something as trivial as a silly rule. All that mattered was that he was there for Kate.

"I came to let you in. She's awake and asking for you."

Draco bolted to a standing position, staggering. His muscles were all mush and cramped from sitting crouched for so long. Remus steadied him with a hand and smiled slightly. He didn't like Draco, granted. But the boy didn't give up.

Draco nodded gravely. He understood. And disappeared into the Tower without a word. He loped up the countless stairs, all the way to the top. By the time he reached the heavy wooden door, he was out of breath and a splitting pain ripped unmercifully at his side. Tentatively, he pushed open the heavy door and let himself in. There were a few candles lit, providing some flickering light to the front room. But that didn't help him find Kate.

Surprisingly, Kali made a loud meow at his ankles. The graceful feline stared up at him with her big sapphire eyes and led the way out of the room. Draco followed her to another door. This one was open, and it was dark inside. Behind heavy curtains, a window was open and wind blew around the thick drapes to cool the stifling room. In the corner was a four-poster bed, curtains halfway drawn. Slowly, he slipped into the darkness, making his way toward the bed.

Kate was there, propped against the headboard. Her eyes were shiny white in the tiny fragments of candlelight that found their way down the hall.

"Draco." Kate was relieved he'd come. She didn't think he would. Not after she ignored him and locked herself into the Tower, making herself sick.

"Kate," he said brokenly. "I'm so sorry." Tears started in his eyes, wetting his light lashes. Draco crouched to the ground, making their eyes level.

Seeing him cry made the tears start in Kate's eyes. "No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have run away, Draco." Soon, they had both calmed down and he held her hand. "Lie with me and get some sleep. Please?"

Solemnly, he kissed her hand and slid in next to her, laying over top of the blankets. At peace, like a stormy water settling after a downpour, they settled into sleep. Kate whispered to a sleeping Draco, relishing the warmth of his arm against hers and his hand wrapped around her own. "I love you, Draco."


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

A sickly sweet smell drifted and camped out in Draco's nose as he came into consciousness. He was lying on his back, Kate's hand still tucked into his own. She was still sleeping, breathing deeply. There was a vial on the bedside table filled with a silvery crimson liquid that he could see through the half open curtains. With slight giddiness, Draco realized this was the first time he'd seen Kate during the day. In place of the midnight darkness and mystery, there was light and a certain sunny quality to her sleeping figure.

Without a knock, Severus Snape stole into the room and gaped at what he saw. His favorite student lying in bed next to his goddaughter. Frankly, he couldn't be more pleased at this match, but this was edging on inappropriate. "Draco!" he said to the boy lying awake in front of him.

Draco stumbled out of bed, waking Kate in the process.

"Good morning, Severus," she said as if nothing was amiss.

Draco garbled some words by way of apology for their improper state and nervously ran a hand through his hair.

Remus strolled into the room, a spell book in hand. "Good morn--" He stopped abruptly and stared at Malfoy. Slowly, comprehension dawned. He looked from a very awake Kate to Draco to a grim-looking Snape. His voice was quiet, like age-old stone. "I think it best if you take your leave right now, Mr. Malfoy. Kate needs to take her medicine." He, however, didn't look angry, only surprised and a little shocked.

Spooked, Draco nodded at Remus, then turned his head and gave Kate a small 'It's okay. Really.' smile.

Without regarding neither Severus nor Remus Kate smiled warmly and said, "I'll see you later. Okay, Draco? Can you come back at lunch?"

"Of course," he said with absolute seriousness. With one last nod at the two men, Draco left, closing the door firmly behind him.

"What was _that_ all about?" Remus let a mischievous smile pass to his lips.

"Nothing at all," she said loftily while Severus helped her sit up.

"You must take the potion. Now, Kathleen," Severus interrupted, glancing at a wall clock.

Obediently, Kate took the vial from him and swallowed the metallic crimson liquid in one gulp. Sputtering and coughing, she accepted the cup of water from Remus. Immediately, she felt the familiar warmth spread from the roots of her dark hair to the tips of her toes. A sunny smile tipped onto Kate's mouth and eyes.

"My. You look pleased this morning," Remus commented. "You're radiant."

And she was. Her hair shone in the sunlight, creating a halo around her head and Kate's skin glowed with happiness from the inside out. "I am, aren't I?"

"The question I have is why young Draco here was? At night?" Severus, again, interrupted.

Remus shifted his weight and leveled his eyes with Severus'. "I let him in."

"You what!'

Kate could sense where this conversation would go. And it had to stop. "It's _okay_. Nothing happened. I swear." There was an edge to her voice, a strength, that hadn't been there before.

Oddly, this stopped the two men, who looked like they might whip out wands and duel at any moment. Awkwardly, they mumbled a few garbled words and excused themselves, going opposite directions into the hall.

Sighing, Kate pulled herself from bed and began to get ready for Draco.

Two hours later, Kate was showered and sat at the vanity mirror applying some balm to her face. Just for the day's lunch, she'd dressed in a simple skirt and top with the cream linen robe. Kate decided they'd have a picnic inside on the floor. Since it was daytime, Kate couldn't go outside. Never mind her illness.

"Kate?" Draco called through the doorway.

"Come in!" Kate was busy bringing various items of food from the counter to the floor. She'd found a pretty beaded blanket and spread it out on the wooden floor and opened the practically all the outside doors and windows, hoping to shepherd as much warmth and light in as possible. Faintly warm grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches, tart strawberries with sugar, fat juicy slices of melon, and chilled, golden iced tea.

When Draco saw what she was doing, he rushed over and took all the remaining plates and baskets of food in one batch over to the picnic area, grinning triumphantly. She'd been bringing them over one by one. "There. All set." He helped her to the floor, for fear she might fall hard on the way down.

Kate almost reprimanded him that she could, in fact, take care of herself but closed her mouth before any words could spill out. It was a nice act and that's what mattered.

"Tomorrow's the last day," Draco said quietly between bites of melon.

"Of school?" Kate didn't believe it. Couldn't believe it. "How much time did I miss? How long was I sick?"

Draco looked away. He didn't want to be the one to tell her she'd wasted almost three weeks of their time together being sick. Every moment was precious. It had to be because they were out of it.

"Answer me, Draco. How much did I miss?" she repeated slowly.

He too put down his food and looked away, avoiding her eyes. "You were sick for almost three weeks. This is the first time I've seen you in a month."

They were both silent. Kate berated herself silently for letting so much time be wasted and Draco was speechless.

"So, tomorrow's it then. What are we going to do?" She stood unsteadily, her knees wobbling visibly beneath her skirt. Draco attempted to give her his arm to steady her, but she shook it away and staggered toward the piano.

Once they were seated, Kate didn't dare touch the keys. She needed to _tell_ Draco how she felt with her words, not give him guesswork with some fragmented song. He laced his fingers into hers and she breathed in deeply.

"How were your exams?" she muttered, staring at their touching knees.

Draco didn't dignify the worthless question with an answer. "I think this is the end, Kate. I can't see another way." He was hopeless.

"But--we could…I could…" She was going to say 'we could write to one another' but that was no good. It really couldn't happen. They couldn't write or keep in any contact. Kate was supposed to be in hiding. His father couldn't find out where Kate was. Contacting each other again risked too much. Kate only hoped Draco would keep her secret for always. "So this is it," she said, defeated.

"I guess so."

For the rest of the lunch hour and into the afternoon, they sat on the piano bench, grieving for the loss of themselves, for that is what they were giving up.

"You need to go, Draco. You're probably already late for your class." Kate wiped at her reddened eyes.

"Yeah, probably. I'm sorry, Kate. My Katie. For everything," he said, kissing her cheek.

Slowly, they leaned their heads closer, shared a final kiss. Everything about it said 'goodbye.' It was their farewell and tasted of bitter tears and sadness.

"I love you, Draco. Always remember that, okay?"

He nodded. "I love you, Kate. I always will, Katie." He kissed her hand, grayed eyes never leaving Kate's trembling green ones. "Goodbye."

She didn't answer, didn't watch his back vanish behind the heavy door of the Tower. And with that, he walked silently out of her life.


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

"Hello, Grandmother," Kate said without much enthusiasm. She'd been lacking in that department, it seemed, since Draco left. Half of herself was missing and Kate wasn't interested in living life fully unless she was whole.

Helen Graham hugged her granddaughter rather stuffily. Her face reminded Helen of her dead daughter, especially the eyes. Even looking into the mirror each day at her own reflection made Helen want to weep. Everywhere she saw those eyes; everywhere she found sadness and loss. "Good afternoon, Kathleen. How are you, my dear?" She stepped back, holding Kate's hands, appraising. Her granddaughter's eyes looked to have sealed over, blocking out everything. Or locking something inside. "You look like you need a good meal, dear, a nice bath, and a good night's sleep. What do you say the two of us go out for dinner?"

When Helen looked conspiratorially at Kate, Kate inwardly groaned. She didn't know if she was ready for 'dinner' with her grandmother. "Well…" Kate looked away and bit her lip.

"Oh, Kathleen. Really. It is just dinner."

Kate sighed. 'Just dinner' with Helen usually meant some huge dinner party, where she'd be expected to act, talk, and smile like the porcelain doll her grandmother expected her to be.

"Just dinner with a few close friends, dear. It would mean so much to me. After all, we both know this may well be the last time we see each other for a long time…" A slight whine laced itself in her grandmother's words.

After staring at her feet for almost a minute, debating against herself, Kate finally leveled with Helen's hopeful eyes. "Yes, I suppose I'll go. It might be fun."

A triumphant grin broke out on Helen's pretty face. "Yes. Fun. Exactly. I knew you'd want to come. We'll have the best time. I promise."

Later that night, after discussing the idea with Dumbledore, Remus, and Severus, Kate sat at the vanity, applying the last bit of makeup to her eyes. Not that it mattered. Not really.

The meeting in Dumbledore's office had been brief that afternoon. Both Severus and Dumbledore had thought the party a wonderful idea. They both saw how Kate was and thought she needed a chance to have fun; to get out of the castle. For one night, at least. Kate suspected Helen got to them before she did. Just to be safe, though, Kate would have to use another name and be escorted by Remus.

The dress code was Muggle-clothes, so Kate slipped into the sheer, elegant black dress she'd laid out earlier. It dipped low in the back and flattered in the right places. In the dress, she looked slender and a little older than she actually was. Quickly, Kate softened her dark locks so they waved gently around her face and shoulders. Grabbing a lace shawl and some heels, Kate headed down the many, many steps to the outside where Remus and her grandmother were meeting her outside.

It was roughly four o'clock when Kate made it outside, the shawl and shoes in her hands. Remus was dressed in a suit, looking handsome in his brotherly way. He smiled at her and complimented her on the dress in the good natured way he always had. Helen, who always looked beautiful and elegant, was wearing a dark coffee-colored dress and pearls. Helen, who was actually in her sixties, looked forty. She was a slim woman with golden curls that never grayed, as far as Kate knew, and the same large green eyes as her daughter and granddaughter.

"You look beautiful, Grandmother," Kate said as she accepted the pecks Helen gave her on the cheeks and gave her own.

"You too, dear. That dress is most becoming."

"I think you both look ravishing," Remus said, motioning toward the limo pulling up to them. He helped them both in the car and got in himself before they drove away.

'A limo' Kate thought sarcastically. She hadn't seen one of those for a long time. Not since before her parents died. Her family did have money, but most of it went into trust funds for Kate, for security reasons. Kate's father had always said the money was used for comfort and happiness for their friends and family. Kate had always liked the way he'd said it.

Staring out the darkened window, watching the countryside pass by, Kate thought of Draco. "Where, exactly, is this 'dinner'?"

"At the Minister's manor, of course. Dear Cornelius sent me the invitation himself." Helen went on to babble a little more about her friend Cornelius Fudge, but Kate wasn't listening. She was hoping she would see Draco there. But hoping she wouldn't at the same time. Kate knew they wouldn't be able to speak to each other as if they already knew each other. She wasn't sure what she would do if that happened.

"So why does Kate need a pseudo name and you don't, Mrs. Graham?" It was Remus speaking. Kate thought it was a good question. She didn't know the answer to it herself.

"The danger has passed over me. The Dark Lord had no use for me. I cannot use the Temple or the Garden. Kathleen, however, can. And that's what puts her in danger. That's why she is in hiding and why she is _your_ guest, Remus. Simply a friend of a Graham family friend." Helen looked away sadly. "My. It _was_ a good idea from your father that you were kept from the spotlight, wasn't it?" she said, feigning cheerfulness.

Kate and Remus muttered a few words and fell silent. The car drove and drove, until they arrived at a large stately manor only three hours from Hogwarts. Many other guests were already there, most dressed in dark colors. Beautiful women and powerful, distinguished men.

As they were stepping out of the car, Kate whispered urgently to the other two. "Remember: I'm Anna. Anna Sample."

They all nodded at each other and walked into the party.

"This is Remus, a family friend, and his date, Anna Sample," Helen beamed as she introduced them to the Minister.

"Very nice to see you again, Remus," he said, clapping Remus on the shoulder with his sturdy hand. "A pleasure to meet you, young lady." He shook Kate's hand and smiled in a grandfather-like way. Helen excused herself, seeing an old friend or seven over in the corner, leaving Kate and Remus alone with the Minister of Magic. "Are you two…here as a _couple_?" he frowned slightly at Remus. As Minister, he of course knew Remus was a werewolf.

Remus handled it well, chuckling a bit. "No, actually. Anna's my cousin, in this part of the country for the time being. A distant cousin," he added, just in case.

"Ah. In that case, I would like to introduce you to a close friend of mine. He's about your age, my dear, if I read you correctly. You are nearly seventeen, are you not?"

Kate nodded. "I would surely like to meet him." In fact, Kate did not want to meet him. She wanted to go home and wallow some more.

"I will find him momentarily and make the introductions." And with a curt, polite nod, the Minister left.

Within the half hour, the Minister had found his friend and presented him to Kate. "Harry, may I introduce Miss Anna Sample? And, Anna, may I introduce Mr. Harry Potter?" They said polite but distant hellos in front of the Minister, who left to attend to his other guests in all of five seconds. When he was gone, Harry and Remus said their hellos, giving a hug and grinning at each other.

"You know each other?" Kate asked.

"Yes. I teach Harry up at the school and I knew his father, back when we were at school." He clapped Harry on the shoulder.

Kate watched Remus talking with Harry, like a father would, bored. In between a conversation about some unknown person named Snuffles, she excused herself with a quiet nod at Remus. She weaved through the crowd of distinguished ladies and gentlemen sipping wine and laughing in dry, fake, airy voices. Then she saw him.

Draco was sitting in a corner, in a plush arm chair, surrounded by a group of friends. He didn't see her, wasn't looking her way. Kate couldn't discern whether she was glad or disappointed in this fact. He was dressed in his usual all black, his white hair setting off the contrast. He looked good. Draco always did. A girl stood beside his chair and Kate felt herself scowl at the sight of the other girl. She was attractive enough, with straight near-white hair and pretty violet eyes. Jealousy stirred in the pit of Kate's stomach. 'The Pop-tart has no right…' Kate thought begrudgingly, gritting her teeth.

When she realized what she was doing, Kate shook her head and ran a hand along side her hairline, heading into the cluster of bodies again. She didn't have the right to be jealous. Not anymore. Draco was free and deserved to find someone else. Even if Kate didn't like it.

From a distance, Kate heard a chime and the announcement for dinner being served.

After the posh dinner, Kate found a balcony that was deserted. It was dark and quiet. She sat on the stone bench, let the cool wind bathe her face and her thoughts overwhelm her. Noiselessly, a couple tears slipped down her cheeks like silk.

"Penny for your thoughts." It was Harry.

Embarrassed, Kate wiped the tears away angrily. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Sweetly, Harry sat on the bench beside her. "You're freezing." He took off his own jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Better?"

Kate nodded. "Thank you. Harry, you don't have to do this."

He smiled gently. "I know it. But I want to."


	10. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

The overcast sky blocked out the afternoon sky bit by bit, covering the Hogwarts grounds in shadow. It was a balmy day in mid-June with a warm western breeze. A couple picnicked in the dappled shade of a tree alongside the lake. Dressed casually in shorts and tee-shirts, the boy with chaotic black hair and glasses passed the girl a pastry from the basket. She took it, looping a curl of dark brunette hair behind her ear and giggled at something he'd said.

Kate and Harry had spent practically every day together since the dinner party and the Minister's manor when Kate had told him who she really was. Because the Order had been relocated to a safer location within the vaults of Hogwarts for the war, they were both stuck there for the summer.

The sun soon was buried in clouds and fat drops of cold rain began to fall. Kate wiped at her arm, where a big bead of water stood, and looked to the sky. "Oh, well. It's just a little--"

And with that; thick, cold sheets of rain dumped from the firmament, drenching them.

"--Rain," Kate finished her sentence. Her hair was already saturated with water. Harry had already closed up the basket and was holding the blanket over their heads, urging her to run. Laughing and tripping over their own feet over the wet grass, they made it to an overhang where it was dry. Harry shook the beaded water from the blanket, muttering to himself. Kate, however, was doubled over, laughing. Soon, the giggles were interrupted by snorts until Harry had to join in.

"Wow. That's what they call irony, I suppose." Kate squeezed the water from a handful of hair.

The two teenagers were wet to the bone and grinning at each other. Slowly, the smile faded from their faces and Harry's hands went to the sides of Kate's face. Their necks craned closer and closer together--

Both sets of green eyes searched for something in each other. Their heads leaned together and their lips met. Harry kissed her slowly but surely. A kiss full of possibilities. Kate was still, accepting what he gave her and thought about nothing but the boy standing before her sopping wet with his hands tangled in her hair.

One afternoon, Kate had retreated to the Garden, without Harry. Kali was at her heels as she moved toward the Temple. The sight of the Temple during the day disappointed her. It lost all its moonlight elusiveness and mystique. The walls were bleak and washed out, the wooden circle-door showing its cracks and warped surface. Inside the Garden, though, it looked like spring, even in the hottest part of the day in the hottest month of the summer. The trees, flowers, and bushes were a lush green and everything smelled pristine and young. Like meeting an old friend, Kate warmly rubbed her hand over the smooth pillars of the Temple. And it pulled her in.

Kate stood where she had been, her hand still touching the pillar, but there were others inside the Temple. They were Kate herself and Harry. She had let him into the Garden; they had gone to the Temple. Their faces were alight and glowing with love and they smiled clandestinely at each other, sharing in some private joke. They sat cross-legged on the floor and Harry rested a hand on her knee. Kali leapt into Kate's arms as she stood and watched the vision. The Box was sitting in front of them and neither was touching it. A book also lies out in front of them. Kate had never seen the book, but from where she stood, she could see a diagram of the box and words written in a language she didn't know. The other Kate, the vision Kate, made a move to open the box with a flick of her wrist. "Wait! Don't open it!" Kate tried to yell to them, but they couldn't see nor hear them. Harry leaned over the book and read some words that sounded like running water and they watched the Box intently, searching for any reaction. Nothing happened. Dismayed, the couple stood and replaced the Box, taking the book with them, and strolled from the Temple. On their way out, vision Kate looked back over her shoulder. Vision Kate's eyes caught Kate's own eyes, the same eyes, and sent a shivering message: _the Box cannot be opened._

Kate blinked. This was the first premonition she'd seen since Draco. Under her hand, the granite pillar tingled, excited and urgent. Quickly, she turned round. They were gone. 'The Box cannot be opened?' Now the visions were contradicting themselves. It didn't make any sense to Kate whatsoever. She jumped.

It was Kali, butting her ankles with her fuzzy skull. Kate's breath was heavy and she turned on heel to run out of the Garden. She needed to talk to Harry.

"I need to ask you something." Harry was sitting in the Great Hall with Ron. Their heads were bent over a checkered board. It appeared Harry was losing miserably at Wizard Chess.

"It had better be important, then." He stopped abruptly, squinting up at her from the game. An angry-looking pawn frowned up at the disruption of the game. He threw his tiny stone shield at Harry's forehead. It bounced off Harry and broke on the floor. Ron sighed, muttering something about nasty about the set and crouched on the floor to clean up the shards.

"Go ahead, mate. I have to find Hermione anyway," Ron muttered as he picked up the sharp pieces one by one, gathering them in his palm.

"Thanks, Ron." Harry stood and offered his arm. They smiled at each other and Kate looped her arm into his. They strolled around the grounds, talking about nothing of real significance, until they ended up outside the Gryffindor Common Room after darkness had set.

"Come in with me, Kate. It's too late now for you to go all the way back to the Tower," Harry said, giving the password to a portrait of a huge lady in a pink dress. With a grumpily tired 'hello' she let them in.

The Common Room was more than Kate had ever expected it to be. Large, comfortable arm chairs sat before an unlit fireplace that had seen its share of good use. It was a gigantic and warm room, full to the brim with happy memories. Harry led the way to a squashy sofa and plopped down. Gingerly, Kate sat beside him, putting a good foot of space between their bodies. Harry looked into her eyes, their green eyes meeting, and she moved into the angle of his arm and body, relaxing into his body heat. They soon drifted off to sleep and while he held her, Kate realized she'd never felt so protected as in that very second.


	11. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

Jolting, Kate woke up in the Gryffindor Common Room, and her head pressed into Harry's neck. It was her dream that had woke her, but it was gone and Kate couldn't remember what it had been about.

Carefully, she turned her head. Harry was sleeping soundly, his lips parted slightly and his eyes were at rest under the lids. Kate was surprised by how she little she knew him and her immediate reaction to him. She didn't have the bone deep knowledge of him. Not like she had with Draco. Harry was… Kate didn't know what he was.

In their deep conversation, Kate had forgotten about the Garden and the Temple, even her haunting vision. They had wandered around the grounds, not near the Garden, of course, but around the lake and skirting the forest.

They had both lost their parents at the hands of Voldemort. Their parents had known each other. Kate's mother anyway. All of them. The Marauders: James, Remus, Sirius, Peter; and Severus, Diana, and Lily. Kate imagined the adventures and experiences they must have had, back when all they had to worry about was a homework assignment and the Hogsmeade trips. So far, she'd only heard about her mother and Severus and her brain tingled to know more. But for now, Kate realized, she had enough to deal with. If her vision was true, Harry could be a Guardian and that needed her attention at the moment. Had Draco's decision affected the Temple more than she'd expected?

After breakfast and much persistent convincing of Dumbledore, Kate and Harry took the short walk down to the village. Kate was fascinated by it. Hogsmeade was the only fully magical village in Britain left. There were so many strange and unknown beings walking unabashedly down the cobbled streets, Kate couldn't help but stare. There were also Dementors. Kate did not like these creatures. They were dauntingly tall and reminded her partly of the Grim Reaper. Harry told her in a haunted voice that they had the power to suck out one's soul with only a kiss, the Dementor's Kiss. They were stationed at the entrances of Hogsmeade for protection for the townspeople against Voldemort. Kate understood the precautions and why Hogsmeade needed protection, but she still couldn't ignore the heart aching chill that seeped through her when they passed into the village.

Happy and warm and in the sun once more, they strolled along the busy street hand in hand. Harry took her into the shops he loved best. After buying bags of candy roughly the size of their heads, they wandered out and into the busyness. It wasn't so much that they would _eat_ all the sweets, just the fun of poking around the sugary-smelling shop and picking out the most interesting things they could find.

Resting their tired legs in the mid-afternoon, they sat on a bench tucked securely between large pots of colorful flowers.

"I'll be right back. I've got something for you," Harry said, interrupting Kate's peaceful state of mind. She watched his back disappear into the crowd and tried to push the memory of Draco from her mind. She thought about him a lot now. What with her reoccurring vision of the Temple, Draco was never far from her thoughts.

"What did you get?" Kate said, grinning at Harry as he handed her a bottle and sat down.

"Butterbeer." He twisted open her bottle, then his own.

"Is it any good?" Kate looked curiously into the open bottle and watched the frothy golden liquid swirl inside the brown bottle.

"Not only good. It's excellent. Try some." He took a deep swig of his bottle.

Kate followed his example and put the bottle to her lips and tipped it back. It was delicious. All buttery sweet, like the butterscotch Muggle candies her grandmother used to give her when she was young but richer. Instantly, if it was possible, she felt even more warm and happy than before. "It's amazing! I can't believe I've never had this before!"

Harry finished his swallow, smiling at her. "It's much better when the weather's cold. Warms you right up."

All warm and contented, wandered up and down the main street until it was time to go back for the night.

Most days, Kate woke with the sun and joined her grandmother for breakfast before venturing up to the airless rooms of Sibyll Trelawney. She knew what Harry thought of the woman: a fraud. Kate knew that was entirely possible, probable even, but she'd never met someone who openly talked about premonitions. Her mother had never even mentioned it and Helen refused to speak of it. It was past her; she was done with it and was glad. There was no changing her grandmother's mind.

"One must accept the vision. Go willingly into it and it will clarify and reveal its true meaning," she said one morning between sips of tea. Truthfully, Kate had never thought about this concept. And come to think of it, she's always tried to bring herself out of her visions to regain control.

"What'll happen if…"

"If you let yourself go?"

Kate nodded.

"I just told you." Sibyll was in a testy mood that morning. "It's meaning will reveal itself. Did you not say that you saw contradicting things, Kathleen?"

Kate nodded. So she had.

As July wore on, Kate and Harry spent more and more time together and soon they were inseparable. They did everything together. To Kate, this seemed like the perfect relationship. She and Harry loved their time together, they understood each other perfectly, and he made her feel safe and secure. Remus, Dumbledore, and the rest of the staff--with the exception of Severus--loved Harry like their own son and couldn't be happier for the star-crossed couple. That didn't hurt one bit. Kate thought of Draco and how much they'd fought the adults at the school to stay together. None of them thought it would last. At the heaviness of Draco leaving, they had torn apart at the seams. And, Kate thought miserably, they had been right.

Usually, they took a boat onto the lake to watch the sun set after eating dinner with Ron and Hermione. Harry would always row them to and fro, even through Kate's consistent offers to take her fair turn. Truth was, she like watching him steer them into the middle of the big lake burning with the tangerine lights of the sunset. He looked so strong and reliable.

"Harry?" Kate was leaned back and rocked the side of the boat gently with a bare foot.

He blinked away his thoughts and murmured. Harry had been thinking of Kate, as always. She was lying back in the boat, her eyes closed and her skin glowed in the slow dimming light. Kate looked like just like what he imagined an angel would look like in her simple cotton sundress. Her dark curly hair was illuminated, giving off lights of red, gold, even some pink.

"What will we do when summer ends?" She had been anxious to ask this.

"What do you mean?" He eased her up to a sitting position with a pull of her hand. Her hair fell over her shoulders and she tucked the curls behind her ears. Harry was beginning to see this was a habit she did when she was nervous or didn't know quite what to say.

"I mean… Oh, I don't know what I mean. We won't see each other much, Harry. What will you do?"

"What will I do?" he repeated.

Kate's words were spewing from her mouth before she could gate them off. "Because, if you wanted me to… I could meet you any time. Really, I could." She bit her lip and re-tucked a twist of hair.

Harry sighed and took her hands. "I don't know what we'll do, Kate. I don't know. All _we_ can do is wait and take it as it comes." His voice was quiet, almost a hoarse whisper.

Kate nodded and this time, she paddled them back to shore.


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

Kate smiled. She and Harry were eating their dinner alone in the coolness of the Tower. Earlier, she'd visited the elves in the kitchen for some food and drink. With their help, she'd also found some candles and a pretty lace tablecloth in a forgotten storage room. The green eyes danced in the candlelight; they had eyes only for each other.

"Do you want to dance?" Harry asked, surprising Kate. Harry wasn't one for spontaneity.

Kate nodded and took the hand he offered. His fingers felt callused and rough, from the demanding Quidditch training he was putting himself through, Kate guessed, against hers. "There's no music."

Harry moved his hand to the small of her back, pulling her body toward his. With the other, he held her hand, letting the twined arms hang at their sides. They felt comfortable, like this. Standing close, feeling the other's warmth, while turning slow circles, lost in each other's eyes. Harry began to hum some tune he'd half forgotten.

Kate began to laugh. "What are you doing?" The blissful smile traveled to her eyes shining in the small amount of light.

"I'm making music for you," he half-smiled and kissed her forehead, then her lips.

Kate rested her head on his shoulder, breathing in his boy-smell. To her, it seemed every kiss they shared had been slow and caring. He never rushed her. He made her safe.

"Thank you, Harry," she whispered; she was not only talking about the music.

Harry woke up and it was dark in the Tower. It had become their custom for him to sleep there. It wasn't a sex thing, but a comfort thing. When he woke from a tortured dream, she was there, soothing him in a hushed voice.

He'd woken up because he thought he heard music from far off. Strange music. Like pipes.

Unable to fall back into sleep, Harry disentangled himself from Kate's arms and stood at the window. He could see a garden blocked off by a high stone wall. Harry's heart began to pound out rhythms in his chest. It was _The_ Garden.

Once Harry found himself outside, he marched through the dew-covered grass to the Garden. It wasn't far. The peculiar circular could be seen at the ground entrance to the Tower. As he neared, the music grew louder. A black cat perched on top of the wall meowed at him. He blinked. Kali. That was the cat's name. Harry pressed his hands to the door once again. The magic seeped into his body, making his whole being tingle, not only in his hands. He felt ready for this.

"Show me," he said to the cat. Kali stared at him through deep sapphire eyes. Harry thought of a knob, still looking into Kali's eyes. A tarnished silver knob materialized under his fingers. It was unlocked. Harry turned it and the door creaked open. He took off his shoes, it seemed more appropriate. He moved into the Garden and followed the eerily familiar stone pathway that he'd dreamt of following but never been.

Returning from the Garden, Harry held Kali in his arms. He had gone to the Garden, but only poking around. It gave him an eerie feeling like he was somewhere he shouldn't be.

Harry let himself into the Tower and climbed the stairs. As he passed windows along the staircase, he noticed the sun was already starting to rise. He'd been gone longer than he'd realized. Harry opened the heavy door to their quarters. A fuzzy feeling filled his chest. _Their quarters. _Kali jumped from his arms and settled on a chair.

In the bedroom, Kate was still sleeping, the golden light washing her face and hair. Harry wasn't tired. The Garden had awoken him.

"Kate?" he said, gently waking her.

She stirred and blinked open her eyes. Kate's eyes watered slightly at being woken so suddenly. Harry rubbed the moisture away with his thumbs. "Good morning, Sunshine," she said mischievously, yawning. Or as mischievously as Kate could sound at the crack of dawn.

He wanted to share the beauty he saw outside with her. "I want to show you something." He pulled a blanket draped over a chair and draped it over her shoulders as she stood up. The Tower had a patio of wrought iron. He led her onto it, an arm around her shoulders. When Kate saw the tangerine sky, she gasped.

"Harry, it's beautiful."

"I know. Beauty for my beauty."

Kate smiled at him. It was one of the few 'smooth' things he'd ever said. "Thank you."

Harry stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her frame, resting his chin on her shoulder. "You're welcome."

Slowly, the sun migrated into the sky, running from the horizon for the day. "I love you, Kate." Harry turned a surprised Kate around and kissed her. She relaxed into his body, running her hands over his back and shoulders in unhurried circles. Kate didn't know what to answer. In truth, she didn't know if she loved Harry or not. She couldn't say it if she wasn't sure. "I don't know what to say, Harry," she said truthfully into his chest.

He didn't make her look at him. "Are we okay?"

"Yes."

"Then it's okay if you don't know. I love you so I can wait."

Kate nodded into his chest and rubbed a tear from her cheek. "Okay."

The sun warmed them and Kate shed the blanket. _'I went to the Garden last night.'_ He formed the words carefully in his head, unsure about the whole experience. He wanted to tell her so bad, share his news. But the words wouldn't come out. He wanted to tell her, but something deep inside stopped him. What it was, he didn't know.

* * *

A/N: Hey. I know it's short. I cut off the next part because I thought it more appropriate to start it on a new chapter. Thanks for checking out the newly re-written chapters. --Ali 


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

August came and went and Kate still didn't know Harry had visited the Garden. He had been dying to tell her, but something stopped him every time. He felt like he was invading her space, something private that he had no right to enter. The feeling had become so strong; he'd only gone inside that one time. Harry had gotten up to the door, but never gone in.

On the eve of September first, the first day of the term, Harry lie in bed, thinking of the Garden. "Kate?"

She rolled over to her back. "Hmm..?"

He spat it out. "I've been to the Garden."

Kate yawned. "That's nice, hon." She rolled back over. "What?" Kate fully woke and sat up.

"I've been to the Garden, Kate," he repeated.

"_The Garden?"_

"Yes." Harry expected her to be disappointed.

Kate breathed deeply. "When?"

"A month ago."

"Were you ever going to tell me?" Kate rested her head on her bent up knees and looked at him. Her eyes shown like stars in the dark.

"Yes. I felt like I was intruding, so I didn't tell you. Not right away."

Kate sounded sad. The thought of another person besides herself and Draco going into the Garden brought back the sad memories of his desertion. "That's because you were, Harry." She reached over and took his hand. "But it's okay. I'm glad I can share that with you too."

Harry squeezed her hand a little tighter. He knew about Draco. It was one of the first things she told him. And one of the things that bothered him but would never admit. "I'm glad too. I've wanted to tell you for so long." He began to kiss her. First on her mouth, then he moved to her neck.

"Wait…Harry, no." She clutched his hands that were slowly peeling off her nightgown.

"What's wrong?" He was breathing hard. They both were.

"Nothing's wrong. We just can't."

They had wanted to make love for so long. The temptation of sleeping side by side almost claimed them some nights. Sometimes they couldn't control themselves. Sometimes she lay awake, wanting him. They exchanged desperate kisses. He watched her all the time now. Kate felt ashamed. Out of control. In the year since he lost Sirius, Harry had been hurting. Badly. Nothing helped the pain of his guilt. Girls, wild adventures, nothing worked. He had become wild himself.

Harry sat back and laced his fingers together. "Okay. Fine." He gingerly moved under the covers and closed his eyes. He heard Kate sigh, pull up the blanket, and turn her back to him.

In a few moments when Kate heard Harry's breathing slow, she got up and pulled on pants and a sweater. She was going to the Garden.

"Can I come with you?" Harry's voice was quiet in the room. His eyes were closed and his arms were crossed.

Kate considered. "Yes."

Together, they walked down to the Garden. Kate held his hand firmly and led him in.

"Is this what you wanted to ask me, that day in the Great Hall?"

At first, Kate didn't remember. But when Kali made her ghostly appearance, the memory dawned on her. "No. I was going to ask you if you were too good to be true, Mr. Potter." Kate knew it was corny, but tonight she didn't care.

He smiled and kissed her cheek.

"But I do want to show you something." She let go of her hand and walked in the direction of the Temple. Because one could never tell exactly how big the Garden was, the journey would last as long as Kate wanted it to.

Harry watched her walk away and followed her. She led him to an open temple. The Temple. A brass statue of a woman holding a box caught his eye.

Kate pulled a book from a shelf inside one of the supporting pillars.

"The _Vita of Arca_," she said, sitting down on the tiled floor. "It's the story of what is found here. What it guards. What the Guardians guard." She looked up from the leather-bound book, serious. "What I guard."

"Do I get a chance to be a Guardian?"

"Do you want a chance?"

Harry nodded. "Yes."

Kate looked back down to the book and flipped to the beginning of the feathery-thin pages. "From what I've read, the _Arca_, or Box, was originally from Greece and traveled east to India by way of old Muggle trade routes. They didn't know what it was. But the Indian people knew its immense value."

"Not wizards?"

"No. It is believed to have been in possession of Rama, an avatar of the god Lord Vishnu himself. He and his wife were the first Guardians. Then, it was brought here, to Hogwarts for safe keeping."

Harry didn't know whether to believe it or not. "How long has it been here?"

"I don't know. Hundreds of thousands of years, perhaps. In ancient Greece, the Box was given to the first woman the gods created. They told her not to open it. But she did, letting all the evils escape into the world. But there was one thing left in the Box. Hope."

"Are you trying to tell me you're talking about Pandora's Box?" Harry interrupted. It was ludicrous, but for the expression on Kate's face, he believed it.

"Yes. Now, please, Harry. I'm trying to tell the story. I've been researching this for a long time and I'm not going to stop now."

He nodded.

"The ancients sent their best after the evils to trap them back in the Box. The Greeks, Hindu, and Roman gods and goddesses alike went to find the evil. They did, eventually, and locked them all up for eternity."

"Then what is the purpose of guarding it, if it can't be opened?"

Kate glared at him and continued. "It could still be opened. A Guardian has to choose it. Stand aside and let it happen."

"We won't do that."

Kate agreed. "No. We won't."


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen**

"Merry Christmas, Harry." Kate kissed Harry's cheek and dropped a wrapped package into his lap. They were all sitting in Kate's Tower: Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Harry, and Kate.

He unwrapped the shiny gold paper. She'd given him some candy and a robe of his favorite Quidditch team. He held up the neon orange robe and smiled. "Thanks, Kate. You're the best."

Kate saw Hermione nudge Ron's arm. The two were finally dating, to Harry's relief. They had been crazy about each other, but neither would act. Their constant bickering had stemmed for a whole week, but now they were snipping at each other again. Kate merely found the whole thing amusing.

Harry had given her a picture of herself. It was a black and white, taken when she hadn't been looking one day at the lake. The picture-Kate looked off the photograph in deep thought. She had a bemused half-smile on her face.

"Breakfast?" Kate asked when everyone had unwrapped their stack of gifts.

Ron nodded. "Definitively breakfast."

"None for me. I've got to get going. I'm meeting Dean in fifteen minutes. Thanks anyway, Kate. Bye, everyone," Ginny waved and let herself out the door. Their fellow Gryffindor Dean Thomas was Ginny's boyfriend. The two had been apparently dating on and off for years.

Ron and Harry sat at the table and sipped coffee. Hermione and Kate wandered back to the kitchen.

"We can manage breakfast, I think."

"Good idea."

"What are you feeding us?" Ron gasped when Hermione placed the plate of some kind of eggs in front of him.

"Eggs, Ron. What's wrong?"

"Erm…they don't exactly _look_ like eggs, Hermione."

Kate surveyed the plate. The simple scrambled eggs had turned an eerie gray color and were leaking hot pink ooze. "I guess I overdid that spell, then. Sorry."

"The toast is alright," Harry said between bites, laughing.

Ron laughed too and took a piece of the dry toast.

"Merry Christmas, indeed!"

Later, Harry and Kate took a walk through the Garden. It, like everything else, had a thorough jacket of the whitest snow. The trees and bushes that had once been leafed out with green were bare and dead-looking. The paving stones were uncovered by the snow, guiding them to the Temple. The whole Garden had gone into hibernation.

"I still can't believe that in less than a year, I'll be out getting a flat in London, away from Hogwarts."

"It goes by almost too fast, doesn't it?" Kate slipped her cold, red hand into his.

"Yeah. Remember when we met?"

Kate nodded, watching her feet travel along the pathway, leaving partial footprints in the snow heaped between the stones.

"It seems like I've hardly gotten the chance to know you, Kate." He swallowed. "When the time comes, and I leave for London…will you come with me?"

Kate stopped biting her lip when she tasted the coppery-hot tang filled her mouth. "Harry." She took a deep breath. "Would we come back?"

He hung his head. "I don't know, Kate. I don't know if I can."

"Harry, I don't know if I can leave. Not just yet."

He sighed and dropped her hand. "Why?" His voice was that of an injured lion with its ego burned.

"I can't leave the Temple, the Garden. I'm a Guardian. I can't leave it, Harry."

"A Guardian? Kate, Hogwarts is the safest place on earth. I think the Box is protected enough without…" He stopped, realizing what he was saying.

Kate had stopped and her lips twitched with anger. "Without me. I can't believe you would… How _dare_ you say such despicable things?" Her eyes hardened over and glowered at him. "And believe it or not, you're a Guardian too. There are responsibilities that go along with that!"

He lashed back. "What if I don't want any more responsibilities? Have you ever thought of that? I don't want it! None of it!"

"Yes, Harry. I have thought of it. It's not like you're the only one making bloody sacrifices!"

"And what are you really losing, Kate?"

"What's that supposed to mean, Harry? Are you afraid that if you let someone give you their trust, you'll trust them and they'll desert you? Like Sirius did?"

"He didn't desert me!" Harry's yell echoed through the Garden, sending mutated replicas back at them.

Kate lowered her voice. "Then why don't you let me trust you?"

"I do trust you, Kate."

She walked up to him and kissed his cheek. "Then talk to me, Harry," she said and stiffly walked away.

Kate stalked to the castle instead of the Tower. Without realizing, she'd strode right to the entrance to Sibyll Trelawney's tower.

"Come in, my dear," said the misty voice from the top of the creaky staircase.

Kate climbed up the stairs into the oppressive room.

"Kathleen. I, of course, knew you were coming. Please, take a chair."

Kate sat.

"Is there something you'd like to ask me, Kate? A question perhaps?" Her insect-like eyes inspected through the thick lenses of her glasses.

Kate gulped. "Yes, actually. It's about the Garden."

"Ah, yes. I was actually wondering when you'd visit me again. You haven't been here in a long time."

Kate hadn't been to the attic since Harry had visited the Garden. "Professor, I really was going to come talk to you about it."

"Young love conquers all, my dear. I completely understand." Her magnified eyes took on an all-knowing stare.

"I just had a question. About my mother."

Sibyll nodded and folded her bejeweled hands together.

"When my mother, when she left, she took the Box with her, didn't she?"

"I am not privy to that information, my dear child. The Guardian protects all aspects of the Arca."

"I'm sorry. What?"

"The Arca. What the Guardian protects."

"You don't know what it is?"

Sibyll clutched her chest and fluttered her eyelids. "Good heavens, child. No. Nor do I want to know. What about you're mother now, dear?" Her composure returned in a flash and she adjusted her crimson scarf around her shoulders.

"Oh. Yes. I was just wondering, did she abandon--leave the--Arca--unguarded?"

Sibyll shook her head. "Sadly, yes. Couldn't handle the stress of a child and her responsibilities. Poor thing."

"But when she left for London, when she met my dad…"

"Ah, yes. She was intending to come back, so they allowed it. A Guardian can't leave permanently. They have to accept. There is no other choice."

Kate tossed and turned in bed that night. Alone. His things were still in the Tower, however, and he'd left a shattered note telling Kate he was sleeping in the Gryffindor Tower with Ron and not to worry.

How could she not worry? She had said things she didn't mean, earlier in the Garden. Kate regretted talking about Sirius. Saying that Sirius had deserted him. The sad truth was that Harry didn't want the responsibilities of the Temple.

"He's not ready for them. The obligations of the Guardianship; of protecting the Arca," Severus said, watching Kate as she drank the hot tea.

"But my mother…"

"She did leave. And came back…the first time. The second time, after you were born…she didn't. When you were born, she left Hogwarts with your father, taking the Arca with her. She couldn't handle it, so she returned it to Dumbledore. And look at what happened to her. Murdered."

"Surely that wasn't _her_ fault!"

"She could have prevented it. The Arca looks after its own. You have to be strong in both body and mind to keep the Guardianship. After Diana deserted the Arca, the Temple, its magic deserted her."

"So you're saying that if she would have stayed with the…Arca, she would be alive today."

"In a word, yes. They both would."

Kate swallowed. "Harry doesn't want the Guardianship. He refuses it."

"Then he'll die. He knows the secret of the Arca. Now the Dark Lord will stop at nothing to have him."

"But Voldemort already wants Harry dead. Everyone knows that."

Severus nodded gravely. "I know."

Kate couldn't trust her ears. "Harry has to accept. He _has_ to."


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter Fourteen**

A very awake Kate lie in bed wrapped in soft sheets on the eve of her graduation, the heavy blankets and the pretty comforter thrown back to the side. Her bedroom was dark and the only light came from the moon shining through the beaded curtains. Kate watched the wall clock as it marked the pass of the day to her eighteenth birthday.

At the crack of dawn that morning, she had awoken and felt a strange call come from the back of her mind. She knew what it was. The call, for once, wasn't urgent. It was almost lazy. She got up and dressed, careful not to wake Harry, who slept soundly next to her. That morning, she'd felt refreshed.

Too quickly for comfort, Kate and Harry had patched things up from their row at Christmas. Now it was June and they had finished their final days at Hogwarts.

All through the day, they laughed and smiled, generally happy. But it was all fake, Kate thought. A cover for the feelings of loss they had. None of them really wanted to leave, but it was the natural way of things. It was time they moved on, to experience life.

Finally the time came for the actual graduation ceremony. It was the day after the last day of school and all the students had gone home, except, that is, for those graduating. Kate was in the Tower, sitting on the bed. She was dressed in the traditional black robe and pointed hat clutching a framed picture in her hand. The photograph was of Harry. His image smiled and waved forlornly back at her. Kate wondered how she would learn to breathe again after they were separated.

The ceremony was held outside in the Quidditch stadium. Kate, along with Harry and the rest of their friends and those not so friendly to them, sat in the many rows of uncomfortable metal chairs facing a giant podium.

When the boring speeches and the long list of names were read, Kate caught Remus' eye and grinned. He was sitting in the row of chairs perpendicular to the students with the rest of the staff.

After just a few names were called, Kate was up. While she walked up, it seemed like time stood still and everyone was watching only her. She felt her cheeks burn scarlet.

"Congratulations, Kathleen. You will be needed," Dumbledore said and shook her hand with his long calloused one. Before she could register what he had said, she was already stepping down the other side of the make-due stage.

After the ceremony, the school threw an after-party for all the graduates and their parents and family. They all stood on the Hogwarts lawn chatting pleasantly and sipping tart lemonade.

That night, Kate and Harry sat outside on cool stone benches just outside the Great Hall. Most of the people had gone and left Hogwarts, most forever, with their families after the ceremony and festivity. The night air was warm, smelling of mist and leftover food from the kitchens.

"This is really it. Isn't it?" Kate turned to Harry and traced the shape of her hand and fingers on his knee.

"Yeah, it is." His answer was solid, definite. He had made up his mind and was rigid in it so he could avoid actually feeling. "So you're not coming with me?" he tried one last time.

"Harry, don't. Please." There were tears in her eyes. "It's already hard enough watching you leave. Please, don't ask me to go. You know I can't. One of us has to stay."

He nodded and pulled away.

"Don't go, Harry. I don't want to lose you."

Harry looked away. "I have to, Kate. I can't stay here. I can't protect the Garden. Besides, you don't really believe that there's a curse, do you?" he scoffed and wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. "I'm going with Ron tonight. To, you know. Celebrate. Goodnight, Kate. I'll see you in the morning? Early?"

Kate nodded and watched as again, someone she loved walked away from her. She'd already lost him. "I love you, Harry," she whispered. He couldn't hear it. Kate broke into fresh tears. That was the first time she'd said those three special little words for Harry. And he didn't hear it.

That night, she lay in bed alone, wanting him. Both in mind and body. How ironic that when he was lost to her, that she recognized that she loved him. Kate would have laughed at herself, but she was too miserable. Now, she'd have to bare the burden alone. Kate didn't even know how hard it would be. The Box could be in so much danger, and Kate would never know. There was only one Guardian now. Harry had rejected it, and by doing so, rejected her. That's what hurt her the most: that Harry would throw her away as casually as he did. Draco was lost to her too, Kate thought. The memory of him made her the old hurts of her heart throb. She truly had no one.

With her mind too irritated and her heart too aching for Kate to sleep, she pulled on jogging pants and left her shoes at the door. She met Kali at the perfectly round door with the tarnished silver knob in the exact center. The knob turned easily under her fingers and the door swung open. It was exactly like the first time she'd come. The invisibility cloak she'd left in the corner so many months ago sat crumpled. She'd completely forgotten it. Kate picked it up, but it fell through her fingers like water.

Kali padded along the stone pathway at Kate's heels. The trip to the Temple was relatively short. They'd traveled along it so many times; Kate could follow it with her eyes closed.

The moonlight shone on the brass woman. The Box was illuminated by the glow of her tinny eyes. Kate pulled it off the shelf, feeling a sense of falling though both her feet were firmly planted on the tiles.

Kali meowed, wrapping her tail neatly around her body. Kate sat too, placing the Box in her lap, carefully.

_Open. _"Patefacio." The word came to her without conscious thought.

Slowly, the Box opened. But instead of darkness, a casing of light surrounded Kate. It filled her eyes and lit up her hands. She was entranced with the light. It was Hope.

Suddenly, the blackest of smoke floated from the Box. The terrible vision came to Kate's mind and she leaned all her weight in as she tried to replace the lid.

"Propinquus." The tired whisper escaped her lips as the Box closed effortlessly. The smoke vanished, seemingly harmlessly.

Kate fell to her face, sobbing. She'd let some of the evil out. Her whole body was raked with spasms. And that's how Draco found her.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Chapter Fifteen**

Draco felt Kate shaking uncontrollably in his arms when he carried her from the Temple. She was on her back, looking up at him with deadened eyes. Slowly, life returned to the peculiar green pools.

"Draco? Is it you?" she murmured as Draco gently set her on the bed.

"Happy birthday, Katie," he said softly, smoothing her hair away from her face.

"You remembered."

"Of course I did." He kissed her forehead.

"Why did you come back? I thought…" _You were a Death Eater…_

"I was, Kate. But I couldn't do it anymore. I had to see you." Draco rummaged around for a blanket, finally finding one draped over a chair. Carefully, he covered her with it, tucking it behind her shoulders. "Go to sleep, Katie. I'll be here. Always," he said into her ear, kissing it. He could barely keep his hands off her. He just wanted to hold her hand; to stay in contact with her in some way. Draco settled for holding her hand while she slept, watching her breath. In awhile, he felt awkward, watching her in her sleep so he gingerly lay next to her. Never letting go of her hand.

The gray early morning light settled around Kate's face and she woke. Draco's warm hand was still wrapped around her own. _She'd opened the Box_. The horrible memory of the night before dawned on her. Panicked, Kate jumped from the bed and ran to the window. She could see the Garden from it. It looked okay. The Garden wasn't burnt down or anything. It looked safe.

Kate turned around. Draco was awake and laying on his side, watching her. "I've missed you, Katie. My Katie."

She moved and sat on the bed next to him. They were still in their clothes from the day before. Kate rested her hand on Draco's jaw. "You've changed, Draco. I mean, you're different. Older, I guess." His platinum hair had grown and rested just on his collar but his face stayed just as smooth as ever.

"You've changed too. But in a good way."

She had changed. Her dark hair was the same warm coffee brown color but her eyes glowed with a matured, intelligent radiance that was different from the childlike, naïve ones he knew like the back of his hand. When she saw him, her smile washed over him like a gentle wave in a lake. Kate laughed. "I'm glad you like it."

Draco glanced around the room, seeing Harry's belongings packed and ready to go in trunks. "When do you have to leave?" he nodded to the trunk.

Kate shook her head. Draco wasn't going to like what he was about to hear. But Kate didn't care. He'd left her. Not the other way around. "I don't know. Probably not for a few weeks at least."

"Then whose stuff is that?" He didn't touch her now.

"It's Harry's." Kate looked him in the eye. She didn't have anything to be ashamed of.

"What?"

"The trunk is Harry's," she repeated.

"I heard you! I can't believe you! _Harry Potter!_ I can't believe you _slept_ with him! You whore!"

Kate watched herself as she slapped Draco across the face. "Don't you dare call me that. I didn't make love to Harry. Never."

Draco rubbed the red spot on his jaw where she'd hit him. "You didn't."

"No." Kate rubbed the angry tears from her eyes.

"Thank Merlin," he sighed and attempted to wrap his arms around her but she didn't budge.

"I've got to get ready to meet Harry now. Draco, I think it's best if you get out of here. Harry will be coming by soon to pick up his things. He won't want to see you here." She stood.

"I'll see you later?" Draco stood too.

Kate nodded and let Draco kiss her cheek. "Fine."

With Draco gone, Kate sat in front of a mirror. Her freshly washed hair bounced free as it dried. Kate rubbed under her eyes. She'd had a rough night. Until Draco showed up. The restless night showed on her face. It'll have to do, Kate thought as she quickly dressed and left the Tower.

She met Harry in the front lawn of Hogwarts, near the Quidditch field. He was sitting in the grass when Kate arrived, the wind whipped through his black hair. When he saw her, he tossed her a bottle of butterbeer.

"Thanks. How was the celebrating last night?" she said, twisting off the lid.

"Fine. Listen, Kate. I just wanted to say goodbye."

"Okay."

He sounded relived. "Okay, then."

They both stood and the wind whipped through their black hair, their green eyes searching out the other's. "Goodbye then, Harry." She kissed him. It was too formal; too awkward.

"Bye, Kate."

Kate didn't feel anything as she walked away from him, heading to the Garden. They had said their goodbyes the night before. The Garden was the one place he wouldn't go. Harry didn't deserve to enter it; he abandoned it knowing the consequences. And he knew it.

When the sun had set, Kate met Draco in the Tower. He was standing outside the door, hidden in shadow with the exception of his pale hair. Harry's trunks were gone and there was no note expressing his eternal love. Nothing. Secretly Kate hoped there would be one, tucked in her clothes, hidden somewhere. But there was nothing.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked from the bed where he lay.

Kate was rummaging through her clothes and makeup, looking for the hidden note. "Nothing, nothing," she murmured.

"They told me I couldn't stay, Kate."

"What? Who?"

"Dumbledore. All of them. They told me to leave before tomorrow."

"Draco. You're a Death Eater. They can't risk you being here."

"But I'm not a Death Eater! Not anymore!" He slammed his fist on the pillows.

"They don't know that, do they, Draco. You have to tell them. Offer yourself, your services to them. They'll protect you."

"Kate. You don't understand. They won't believe me."

Kate moved to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Yes, they will." _I hope. _She sighed as Draco wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "After all, that's what Severus did. Maybe it'll work for you too."

"Did you talk to them? How did it go?" Kate was standing outside Dumbledore's office. Draco, Dumbledore, and members of the Order were in his office. They had been in there for over an hour. Kate had almost joined them, but reconsidered. Draco needed to do this for himself. He had to save himself.

Draco shrugged. "They said they'd help. But I still have to leave. They want me to go back to the Malfoy Manor."

"Well, it's empty. Isn't it?"

Draco nodded. "I don't want to go back. Not there. Too many bad memories."

"But your father's in prison…"

"And Mother's dead. I know."

"It's safe, Draco. I think you need to trust Dumbledore and the Order. They know what they're doing."

Draco sighed and rubbed his forearm where the Dark Mark was tattooed in his skin. "If I go, will you come with me?"

In the Garden, Kate roamed for what seemed like days. If she left with Draco, she'd be abandoning the Box. Not to mention a hypocrite. She would have chosen Draco over Harry and Kate wasn't sure that's what she wanted. And if she stayed, there would be unimaginable pain when he left. She'd already lost Harry. Kate wasn't going to lose Draco twice. Finally, she found herself in the corn field where she'd seen her mother and Severus, where she most often visited her mother.

Kate heard her voice before she saw her. It was her mother. She was talking to Dumbledore. Diana was seated before Dumbledore's desk. His usually cheery eyes were serious and understanding. Kate watched from behind her black hair blowing across her face. She made no move to pull it back.

"If you have to leave, Diana, then that is what you must do."

Diana nodded. She looked down to her hands folded in her lap. She was avoiding him.

Her voice was soft, but equally fierce. "I'm taking the Arca with me, Albus."

"But, Diana, the Arca cannot leave the Garden. You could not possibly protect it alone. Without the second Guardian…"

Her mother cut him off and stood awkwardly. She was pregnant. "Watch me." Diana strode away from Dumbledore as though leaving his office. Her hand on her swollen belly, Diana passed her future daughter and winked playfully. Then with another blow of wind, was gone.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Chapter Sixteen**

"Professor, I'm leaving."

Kate sat in Dumbledore's office, standing up to his grim stare through the half-moon glasses. "Kathleen, I'm afraid I must object. It's not safe for you to leave. Not now. We, the Order, believe that Lord Voldemort knows your identity. We cannot risk the Guardian falling into his hands."

"Professor, I still intend to leave. I'm taking the Arca with me."

Albus Dumbledore flashed back to twenty years before when Diana sat before him, telling him the same news. History was repeating itself. "Kathleen. Think of your mother. About what happened to her when she left, taking the Arca with her."

"Yes, I know. This time there will be two Guardians to protect the Arca."

Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes deepened in color. "Harry?"

"No. Draco."

A small smile crinkled at his mouth. "The young Malfoy. He came to me the other day, asking for protection from Lord Voldemort. But you already knew that, Kathleen."

Kate nodded. "I sent him. I knew you would help him." She looked away out the window. "He didn't believe that you would really help him."

"We're sending him to the Malfoy Manor. It's his now, I believe. Of course, a number of spells and enchantments will be placed upon the house. More than what are currently placed. It will be safe."

Kate shifted in her chair. "I know. That's why I'm going with him. He needs me, Professor. Draco's had a hard time, sir."

A stiff silence fell between them. Dumbledore sighed into it. "I'm aware of Draco's difficult life as of late. That's why I'm giving you my blessing."

Kate ran up to the Tower to tell Draco her news as fast as her legs would take her. It was dark inside, as night had set in outside. But he didn't light any lamps. Only a sheet of concentrated moonlight fell through the panes, reflecting off a mirror hung on the wall.

"Draco?"

He didn't look up. Draco was sitting in a chair with his head cradled in his hands.

"Draco, I'm coming with you. To the Manor."

He didn't say anything, didn't look up once more.

"Draco? Did you hear me?" Kate, sensing something was wrong, crouched in front of him.

"You can't." His voice was broken and raw. "You can't come with me."

"But…you said…"

Draco looked up. His eyes were reddened and dry. He'd been crying. "I know what I said. Kate, I can't let you come. It's too dangerous. He might find you." Draco's shoulders shivered.

Kate shuddered too and hugged him. "I know it'll be dangerous. I know. Dumbledore and the Order are putting more protective spells on the house as we speak and he trusts us."

"He does?"

"Yes. And besides, we'll both be there with the Arca. It'll protect us, Draco."

He shook his head. "No. I can't let you go, Kate. I have to go. Alone." He sighed. "I'm sorry, Katie. I'll see you tonight. I'm going to the Garden."

Kate watched him stand and then looked out the window. All she did was watch people she loved leave her.

The next day, Kate wandered down to the cold rooms of Severus Snape.

"Come in," he said in his oily voice before she even knocked on the door. "Ah. Kathleen, please take a chair."

She did.

"Mr. Potter has left I see."

Kate nodded and almost flinched at his name. No matter what she would admit, it was a terrible blow to loose him.

"I want to leave with Draco, but he won't let me."

"He's afraid of what he could do to you."

"What could he do to me?" The idea of Draco hurting her worse than he previously had was incredulous.

"He's afraid he might give you away, Kathleen."

"Draco wouldn't really do that, would he?"

Severus considered. "The Dark Lord's torture can be very convincing."

"Severus? Did you love my mother?"

A pained look came over his face but he didn't fidget. "Yes. I did. Very much so. Diana was my whole world."

"I'm sorry she left you. I know how it feels to be left behind."

Severus chuckled and touched her fingertips. "Yes. I suppose you would. Thank you." The smile faded from his lips and he sighed. "Bring me the boy. I need to explain the true nature of the Arca to you both."

Kate bit her lip. "Well, we're not exactly speaking at the moment. You see…"

"I don't care about your silly rows. Bring him to me."

Kate put off finding Draco for a whole week. They were still fighting and she couldn't find him anywhere. He was sleeping under the stars in the Garden, a place she avoided entirely. Finally, she found the note. The note Draco left her in the Temple. He was gone.

"He's gone, Severus. He left yesterday."

"Did he take it?"

"Draco took the Arca, if that's what you mean."

Severus leaned back in his chair. "Then he'll die."

Kate groaned and fought the tears. History _was _repeating itself. "Just like my mother."

Severus shuddered. "You must find him. Harry denied it. Draco must return. There must be two Guardians. One can't do it alone."

"But how am I supposed to find him? He's probably drifting the countryside on that damn bike."

"Yes, I suppose he is. Draco has become rather fond of that motorbike. Perhaps your friend the werewolf will know. He was always rather good at keeping his friends out of trouble."

Kate couldn't believe she didn't think of Remus earlier. Of course he would know. "I'll forget that, Severus. I'm going to find Draco. I will." She kissed his cheek and rushed to pay a visit to her old friend.

Kate found Remus in his classroom, bent over a stack of papers. She hadn't seen him in a long while, not since graduation. They hadn't spoken as friends for even longer. Seeing him alone in his office made Kate feel guilty, like she should have visited him more often. But Remus being Remus invited her in and made a pot of tea, listening to her request with patience.

"I have to find him, Remus. I have to."

"Are you sure?"

Kate knew of Remus' dislike of the Malfoy family. "Yes. We have to."

He sighed and ran a hand through his thick brown hair. The gesture made him look old and tired. "Let's get started then."

Kate kissed his cheek and agreed. "Let's."


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**Chapter Seventeen**

Remus Lupin shook his head in frustration. Part of his headache he knew had to do with his upcoming transformation, but there was more to it. The search for Draco was slow with no results. It seemed, between both he and Kate, that they had tried everything. Right now, Kate was standing at a board they'd set up. A story board outlining the possible points and placed Draco could possibly be. He never reached the Malfoy Manor. A member of the Order had confirmed that already. Without any known contacts Draco could reach, he could be anywhere on the globe.

Remus watched the Scrying crystal swing over a map of a glove. The tawny crystal swung like a pendulum, dangling by a leather strip. It wouldn't drop. This particular stone was meant to drop on any point of a globe to find any witch or wizard.

"Have we found him yet?" Kate asked as she pressed a red colored pin into the board and turned to him.

"No. I think we need something more powerful to Scry with. Just my memory of him isn't working. Do you have anything of his? Something of his he touched recently?"

Kate racked her memory. Draco had taken everything with him. Had he left anything in the Garden in his last moments at Hogwarts? _The note. _Draco had left her a note. He would have held that in his hands minutes before he left. She pulled the folded paper from her pocket. It hadn't left her side since she found it. "Yes," Kate said and handed him the note.

Remus didn't open it. He held it carefully between his fingers and closed his eyes to concentrate. The crystal dropped immediately onto the map spread over the desk.

Kate looked up at the plunk. "Where is he?"

He leaned closer to the map and shook his head again. "Are you sure he actually left? The crystal says Draco is still at Hogwarts."

Kate shook her head. It couldn't be true. Draco had to be gone. "It can't be. He left. Draco left me the note…"

Remus left the map and began rummaging in his desk and finally retrieving a crinkled scrap of parchment. He unfolded it and placed it on top of the map. He pulled his wand from inside his cloak and tapped the parchment, uttering words Kate couldn't quite hear. It was another map. A map of Hogwarts. Dots roamed around in the corridors, representing people. Their names were written in spidery scripts beneath them as they moved around. Low and behold, Draco was among them. He was in the dungeons and Snape was with him.

More hurt than furious, Kate fled.

She ended up in the astrology tower. Kate was shaking with anger and her green eyes were glossy with tears. There appeared to be no one there, but Kate knew better.

"I know you're here! Come out!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. She screamed the words angrily over and over like a child. Finally, she was tired. "Please. Draco. Talk to me," she moaned. Kate heard him breathe deeply.

The invisibility cloak dropped to the floor. Kate saw the embroidery on the collar. _KB _It was her own cloak. Draco was standing no more than a foot from her. He was crying too.

Kate flung her arms round his neck and let her tears go. "I didn't believe you'd actual leave me. I couldn't believe it…"

He held his arms tightly around her and stroking her head. "I'm sorry. Merlin, Kate. I'm so sorry. It was the only way. I had to hide and what better place than Hogwarts?"

"Don't laugh. It's not funny."

"I'm sorry, Kate. I won't leave you again. I promise you that."

Kate leaned her head into his chest. She believed him.

It was dark and Kate lay in the Tower. Because Kate had found him, Draco's cover was blown. He was next to her, his arms holding her. She had a strange feeling that they were being watched. Draco had fallen asleep and that made her edgy. Kate was desperately tired. Even since before Draco left she hadn't slept well.

A window creaked in the wind. Kate bolted up, ready to attack whatever it was. The lack of sleep paranoia was getting to her. She got up and closed it. Soon, Kate was sleeping, a vision of a dark figure standing over her.

In the morning, Kate brought Draco to Snape like she'd promised before Draco hid. They sat in his grimy office, drinking stale coffee.

"Can we agree that you two are the next Guardians?" Severus Snape asked, watching them both carefully.

Kate nodded.

"What about Harry Potter?" Draco asked. He didn't look at Kate, but at Snape.

"Harry left. For good. He can't be the Guardian no more than this teacup."

"But, he can--could--open the Garden. If he came back, couldn't he get the Arca?" Kate remembered Harry had let _himself_ into the Garden. Sibyll Trelawney had told her that the female Guardian opens the Garden for the male.

Snape shrugged. "He left, didn't he? I highly doubt he'll come back just to break into the Garden."

Kate didn't respond. Didn't move. Harry was really gone. He was the one who'd actually left her. The irony made Kate's insides squirm.

Kate fell into a restless sleep, even with Draco at her side. The thought that Harry had never come back wasn't leaving her as easily as she'd thought. Even though she'd gone back to Draco, the option of Harry stayed open in Kate's mind. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't stop thinking of him. Kate also knew it wasn't fair to Draco, nor was it to Harry. Harry had deserved her wholly then, but Draco deserved and needed her now. Kate finally fell into a still sleep, deciding to choose Draco.

Draco bolted awake. Someone was in the room. He could see the figure like a moving shadow. He was carefully trying to wake Kate. Whatever it was, the odds they'd beat it were greater with both of them. She finally woke and was aware as she saw him sitting up, reaching for his wand. Kate readied her mind.

"Ah, the Guardian is awake?" the malevolent voice said. The figure threw back the curtains, revealing him. It was Lord Voldemort. "I thought the Guardians usually married one another. This must be an exception." The terrible red eyes laughed at them.

Kate was confused and terrified at the same time. She wasn't scared for herself, she was scared for Draco. They would have to fight him long enough for someone to get up to the Tower.

The Dark Lord was getting closer to them. The freezing spell Kate threw at him bounced off harmlessly. Again, she tried but to no avail.

"Get out of the way, silly girl. You are not the one I want. I want the Guardian. That one." He pointed at Draco.

Kate almost laughed. Draco couldn't, wouldn't, go inside without her. Especially not now. _I'm the Guardian_, she almost said. But Draco had stopped her with a glare. "You can't take him!"

Voldemort laughed. "Not now silly girl. I have work to do," she said and muttered under his breath.

Kate was thrown out of the bed and into a corner. She hit her head on a corner and the awareness drained out of her. The last things she saw were Draco having the consciousness knocked out of him like a rag doll and he was gone. Draco had disappeared with the darkness.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Chapter Eighteen**

Draco Malfoy slowly returned to consciousness, his head pounding out a steady beat. His whole body felt sore, like he had been beaten. He could taste the coppery-hot taste of blood in his mouth. He was strapped to a table with rough leather straps.

"How do I open the Box, Draco?"

Draco jerked his head. Lord Voldemort was standing next to the table, the Box in his hands. "How did you get that?"

Voldemort didn't turn his eyes on Draco. "I have my ways. Never mind _how_ I got it, just that I have possession of it. How do I open it?"

Draco clenched his jaw and didn't answer.

"Being cheeky, are we? We have ways of dealing with that." The thin, twisted lips curled into a wicked smile. "_Crucio_."

Draco's body erupted into violent spasms he couldn't control. He could feel his arms, legs, and back slam against the table beneath him, bruising the skin and muscles. The excruciating pain moved into his brain, but Draco held onto the sight of the dark room lit by a single fireplace. It a moment it subsided, leaving Draco heaving for breath.

"How do you open the Box?" Voldemort repeated in his smooth voice.

Draco kept his teeth clenched together.

"Fine. _Crucio_."

The pain was worse, this time. His head was racked with pain and Draco struggled to double up. _Crucio. Crucio. Crucio. _Draco vaguely heard Voldemort asking him questions as the room and his evil red eyes blinked in and out of focus.

"I don't know! I've…I've never opened it," Draco croaked just before another round of pain.

The playful look in Voldemort's eyes disappeared. "Who can open it?"

Draco gathered the strength to lift his head to glare at Voldemort. "I'll never tell you."

The Dark Lord smiled. "Are you sure you won't tell me? This little escapade can be over in a flash. I can make your death quick and painless."

"No. I won't."

"Fine. As you wish, Mr. Malfoy. There are ways of dealing with that."

Dumbledore looked over the people in his office. Snape, Remus, Minerva, and Kate.

"Do we know yet? How did he get in?" Minerva was pacing the room and her usually steely eyes showed her worry.

Albus Dumbledore had thought of this many times before. "I have many theories, but each is as unlikely as the next."

She nodded severely. "Yes, but it's been _months_. Have we found where he is keeping Malfoy?"

Kate sat in the chair quietly, wishing she could disappear. Draco had been gone months.

Remus shook his head. "No. We haven't found him. Like you said, it's been months. Surely he couldn't have lasted that long?" he said, repeating Kate's fears.

Kate's voice was shaky, but certain. "No. Draco's alive, I'm sure of it. I would know. I would have felt something. We are Guardians. There's a connection, isn't there?" She wished she felt as confident as she sounded.

"That's correct. The Guardians have what's known as the Golden Cord. Once they accept the Guardianship, they're bonded together," Snape said and Diana's face flashed to his mind.

Remus' voice was cruel and spiteful. He and Snape had never gotten along. Snape was, after all, a Slytherin. "Yes, and tell us what you would know of the Guardianship, Severus. If you care to remember, Diana left you for a man who wasn't even a Guardian before you got the responsibility. What would you know about the Golden Cord?"

Snape glared at him and turned to Kate. "Don't worry, Kathleen. Draco's fine, I'm sure. If anything was mortally wrong, you would be the first to know."

Kate stood at the window in the Tower, looking over the Garden. Because of the increased security all around her, Remus slept on the couch only feet away from where she stood. Kate never got a minute alone now that she was on constant guard. At least Dumbledore had let her send the letter to Harry. Of course, it would be sealed with the best charms and spells, making it impenetrable to all but Harry…praying he knew the codes to open it. She had gone against her own logic and wrote a letter to Harry, asking for help. Pleading, more like. If anyone could find the Dark Lord, it was him.

Not that he would be doing it alone. An assault had been planned against Voldemort. Kate would be bate, and the Order and its forces would attack. Dumbledore had been planning it all for months. He just didn't expect Kate to volunteer in such a profound way.

Days after Kate sent the letter, Harry turned up in Dumbledore's office. He held the letter in his hand, demanding to see Kate.

"I need to see her. Now!"

Dumbledore observed his anger briefly and disregarded it. "What did she tell you, Harry?"

"It's none of your bloody business!" Harry snapped, slamming his hand on the desk, crinkling the paper. Since he left, he'd regretted it and was taking his anger out on an old friend that didn't deserve it. Harry sighed apologetically. "I'm sorry, Professor. Please. Just tell me where she is."

When Kate saw Harry open the door of the Garden, she was on her feet and running to him, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Harry! I knew you'd come. I _knew _it."

Harry grinned. "Yes. You knew I couldn't stay away. Especially if you needed help." His expression sobered. "What's wrong, Kate?" She hadn't told him in the letter.

Kate swallowed. "It's Draco."

"What's that ferret got to do with it?"

"Harry, he was kidnapped by Voldemort." Kate's eyes watered and scanned Harry's face.

"Good. Good riddance, I say."

"Harry! You can't mean that. Harry, Draco's a Guardian. With me."

"But…He _can't _be. He _left _you. How is that possible?" Harry turned his back to her.

"Harry, you left me too," she said quietly. "Draco came back. Now I need you to help me get him back before Voldemort figures out how to open the Box."

Harry didn't turn around. "I can't. I'm sorry, Kate."

"Harry, how dare you! You left me. _Abandoned _me. Draco's a Guardian now. The Box affects us all. You included. If Voldemort opened the Box and lets it out…"

"Kate. Please rethink this. We were meant to be together. Please. I love you."

Kate softened and took his hand. "Oh, Harry. I love you too. I always will, I promise."

"Then marry me." Harry kissed her.

Dazed, Kate stepped back. "Harry, you know I can't marry you. I love you, but I'm in love with Draco."

The fact hit Harry hard. And it hurt. He was quiet for a long time, holding her hand. Kate didn't say anything, didn't look at him. It hurt too much.

"I'll do it. If it'll make you happy to be with Draco, I'll help him."

Kate leaned her head closer to him and kissed him, meaningfully. "Thank you, Harry."


	20. Chapter Nineteen

**Chapter Nineteen**

"I knew it. You would give eventually. They all do in the end, Draco." Lord Voldemort watched Draco writher on the table. His veins stood out on his appendages: arms, legs, neck from the torture Voldemort had just given.

Draco couldn't open his eyes. He was too ashamed. He'd given in. He'd lost. And now, it was all lost. All of it: Kate, him, their love. He'd lost it all.

"It seems the Guardianship has passed. I thought that with Diana dead it was all gone, all over. The old one, Helen, must have passed it. It takes a Guardian to show a Guardian the way," Voldemort mused aloud. He was pacing back and forth, the Box on the table where Draco could clearly see it. The boy had just given him the way to open the Box. It was merely a girl. Diana's daughter, it seemed. She would be joining them soon, if he knew Dumbledore. Which he did. To be ahead, one always knew their enemies. And Lord Voldemort was always one step ahead.

Kate and Harry stood in Dumbledore's office. It was dark so Dumbledore had lit candles. There would be no magic in the room to interfere with the spell they were about to perform. They would call up a portal to bring them to Draco and Voldemort. Harry took a deep breath. He and Kate would be going alone. Dumbledore needed to be present for the attack. Harry splashed the electric blue potion into the air. It stopped in midair as if hitting an invisible wall. Instantaneously, a portal of the same blue swirled in front of them like a storm where the potion dripped to the floor.

"Ready?"

Kate could feel Harry's clammy hand clenching hers. She swallowed. There was a spicy hot taste of blood on her lips where she'd bitten. "I think so. Yes. Yes."

"Now, when you get there, do you remember the plan? Do you know what to do?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes. Exactly."

"Good. And good luck."

Together, they stepped through the portal.

When Kate emerged, a drop of the swirling blue potion ran behind her ear and sent shivers down her arms. Harry's hand was wrapped tightly around hers. They had stepped into a dusty old room filled with furniture covered in white sheets. It was dim, except for the flickering light seeping from under the door directly in front of them.

"Where are we?" Kate whispered.

"The Riddle House."

"You've been here before?"

Harry nodded. "Last year." He nodded again pointedly to the door.

Kate shuddered. "Let's go."

Voldemort didn't even flinch when Kate and Harry burst through the door. Kate felt her knees almost collapse when she looked into those terrible red eyes.

"Welcome, esteemed Guardian." He smiled and Kate felt herself gag.

Kate saw Draco lying on the table, unconscious.

"He's breathing, don't worry. Go to him, if you'd like."

Kate ran to the table and pressed her ear to Draco's bloodied chest. He was breathing and awake, apparently.

"Kate? Kate! You have to get out of here! Run, now! It's a trap…"

"Not so fast, Draco," Voldemort said, closing his hand into a fist.

Draco flinched and clenched his fists, his eyes squeezing shut.

"Stop! You're hurting him!" Kate screamed.

"Only if you open the Box for me, darling. You knew that, I'm sure," Voldemort said, but didn't unclench his fist. Draco continued to squirm.

"Stop! Listen, you have me. You've got who you wanted. Let them go." Harry turned to Voldemort.

He laughed. "I don't think so."

Harry fingered his wand. "Why not? You don't need them anymore. I walked right into your trap."

Voldemort smiled ruthlessly at him. "You did, didn't you? Walked in quite nicely…But you were not the one I wanted, Harry. And you are correct about one thing. This is a trap." He waved his arm and the door bolted shut with several Death Eaters appearing at the exits. "I wanted _her_. Obviously." He nodded at Kate.

"The other Guardian…" Harry breathed.

"I'm almost out of time, my dear. Won't you open the Box so I can get this messy business over with? I can make your friend's death easy and quick. Yours as well. But then, I wouldn't know. I've never died."

Kate glared. "Never."

The Dark Lord shrugged. "Fine. It was your choice. Goodnight." He pointed his wand to Kate.

A dark pink exploded behind Kate's eyelids and she dropped to the floor.

When Kate awoke, she was lying on the floor next to the table where Draco still lie, tied up. She appeared to be alone in the room, with the exception of the Death Eaters guarding the doors. Still wobbly, Kate stood. The pink bolt Voldemort had hit her with had only knocked her out. In the split second as she fell to the floor, Kate knew she would die. The bolt was clearly not meant to kill. Otherwise, it would have. Harry was tied to a couch across the room. He was watching her. They both were.

"Awake, are we?" the chillingly smooth voice asked. Voldemort stepped through his guards into the room.

Kate didn't answer.

"You have to choose, Kate. After you open the Box, of course. Which one will you choose?"

"You're letting us live?"

"No. Of course not. I have changed my mind. Two of you will receive a guilty, painless death. The other will suffer a slow, excruciating one, his memories and mind slowly burning up. Eventually, after a day or so, it will blow up."

Kate's head was swimming. She couldn't choose between them. Well, she _could _of course. But she couldn't. Choosing Draco would mean leaving Harry to die after she'd dragged him down with her. And choosing Harry would mean betraying Draco. What did it all matter, anyway? They would all die. Unless she could think of a new plan; and quick. What did it matter? It mattered horribly. What she needed was more time. "I'll open it."

A guard handed her the Box. The tinny metal box felt heavy in her hands.

"You can imagine how surprised I was when I found out this mere box is the weapon I've been searching for. However, it is Pandora's Box and could only be opened by a Guardian."

An idea came to Kate. A plan. With a wave of her hand, she feigned opening the Box. "Exertus!"

A slow moving golden current sifted around the Box, then flashed away. Immediately, filmy versions of Harry and Draco drifted from their solid bodies and moved to Kate. Voldemort didn't say anything, only crossed his arms impatiently. He couldn't see them.

"Kate! What happened?" whispered Draco's voice in Kate's left ear.

"I Astral Projected you," Kate mumbled.

"What?" the Draco-Projection asked.

"She made our minds separated from our bodies," the Harry-Projection said. He was glimmering in front of her.

The room began to shake suddenly and clouds of dust distorted the room. Bits of the house began to tumble onto them.

"My Lord, it's Dumbledore. We're under attack!" a hooded Death Eater rushed into the room. He was out of breath and his voice shook with genuine worry.

Voldemort cursed and ordered the man into some kind of action. The Death Eater turned on heel and ran out to carry out his orders.

"Get on with it! Open it!" Voldemort ordered.

The whole house shook and trembled. Inside the room, they could hear the wood and protection spells tearing apart at the seams. With a loud crash, everything was deathly silent.

"Repeat after me," Kate said. She closed her eyes and gripped the Box. "Touch it. Both of you."

They did.

"Spes! Ego solvo vos!" Kate yelled.

"Spes! Ego solvo vos!" the Draco- and Harry-Projections echoed.

They repeated it over and over and a golden-white light filled the room. It was coming from the Box. It was Hope.

The Hope seeped into Voldemort's eyes, nostrils, and ears. It filled him and he turned into a living X-Ray.

Draco, Harry, and Kate had collapsed to the floor and were shading their eyes from the brightness, watching. They could see the individual bones of Voldemort shift into a soundless scream. His mouth formed the deadly words _Avada Kedavra._

With an even brighter blast of green light, Voldemort was gone. The white light seemed to be sucked back into the Box which snapped shut. The great Lord Voldemort had been driven to suicide. The Hope of the world had proved to be more than a match for him.


	21. Chapter Twenty

**Chapter Twenty**

Kate Bennett stood shakily, moving to the spot where Voldemort had stood. On the floor there was a body, hardly recognizable and surrounded by scorch marks.

"That doesn't look like _Avada Kedavra_. Does it?" the Harry-Projection said near her.

"No," the Draco-Projection agreed. "The body should be unblemished. This is odd."

Kate bent down and looked at the corpse. "Well, he's not alive at least." The house shook again. "I'll try to put you into your bodies again." She took a deep breath. "Reditus."

The Projections drifted back into their respective bodies. The boys returned to their solidness with sharp breaths. Using a simple spell and some spry finger work, Kate made quick work of the leather straps binding them to the tables. The boys rubbed their wrists where the straps had rubbed and they made their way out of the house.

There were neither guards nor Death Eaters as they left the Riddle House. It was empty. As they walked into another corridor, they glimpsed the real damage from Dumbledore's attack. An entire staircase had collapsed and the bottom floor was merely a heap of debris. A few bodies lie lifeless here and there, all unscarred from presumably suicide. The three of them climbed out of the wreckage and found themselves on a grassy plain. It was an ugly scene. More bodies littered the ground and these were not untarnished. Most were only bloody messes and one could see the Order had lost many wizards and witches. It had been a close fight.

The remaining witches and wizards stood in quiet gatherings, mourning their losses. They saw families both grieving and joyful. Kate bit her lip. Her grandmother was the only family she had left. The other two walked grimly beside Kate, fighting to stop the tears that came with bloodshed and loss. Emergency Center wizards wrapped them in blankets and slipped hot mugs of water into their hands.

Dumbledore spotted them and waved the trio over. His injuries included a limp and slit arm, a gash across his cheekbone, and a blackened eye. He smiled at them over the unbroken glasses they knew so well. "Well done. Well done. All of you."

"What happened?" Harry asked, looking around.

"We, the Order's forces, were behind. It was looking grim for us. But then, a bright light from the house stunned most of the Death Eaters and we pulled ahead. I assume that was Hope you let out."

Kate nodded. "Yes. Is Voldemort really gone?"

Dumbledore's smile faded from his jolly face. "Yes. I was just inside. And it is all because of you and your efforts to work together. Your strengths," he addressed all of them. "The Hope you led out is the opposite of what gives Voldemort strength. It overwhelmed him and defeated his will to live in the face of all that goodness."

"Is my grandmother--Helen--alright?" Kate asked nervously.

A tear slid from Dumbledore's bright eyes. "Kathleen, I'm so sorry. She's gone."

Kate held her grandmother's black lace glove in her hand. Draco held his arm around her shoulders and Harry was close too. They were at the funeral of Helen Graham. Kate had already given her teary speech. The only thing Kate regretted was thinking of her grandmother as selfish and materialistic. Not of the good things. The things that Kate loved best about her entire family that were carried on in Helen.

It was a sunny and cheerful day. The ceremony had been held at Hogwarts, home of the Garden and the Temple and the Arca. After the tearful service, Kate stepped into the bright sunshine and knew she should be celebrating. She knew it was what Helen would have wanted and pushed on Kate herself. They had defeated the Dark Lord and rescued the Arca. Now, the Box rested safely on its shelf in the Temple Garden, where it belonged. Now, Kate realized the Box was never meant to leave the Garden. Her mother did, Draco did. But it was home there and home was where the Arca was safe. Helen would be proud of her life. Kate was. She had passed on the responsibility of the Arca and the Temple. Her soul was free to go.

"Kate? Can we talk?" Harry asked as the three of them strolled through the Garden. "Alone?"

Kate nodded. Draco let her hand go reluctantly and watched them walk away. He knew it was okay. He and Harry Potter had gotten an understanding, at least, in the weeks since the attack. There was bickering. They weren't friends, of course. The two once-enemies could never be that. But they understood each other. The three of them did. They had seen and done something so traumatic that only they could understand one another.

Harry led her only a few feet away, just out of Draco's hearing. He didn't touch her, not in front of Draco. "Kate…I just wanted you to know I'll always love you."

Kate looked over his shoulder, remembering. "I'll love you too. Always."

"But if I can't have all of you, I don't want you at all."

Kate nodded. "Okay."

"But that's okay with me, you know? I know you and Draco belong together. It's like a feeling I have. I don't really get it, but it's there."

Kate nodded again. "Thank you, Harry. For understanding. I want to be your friend, though. If you'll let me."

Harry grinned. "I'd like that." He hugged her.

Kate hugged him back. When he pulled away, she kissed him. It was a nice kiss: a goodbye to 'them.' "I'll see you around, Harry."

He smiled. "Goodbye, Kate. For now." Harry walked past them both, leaving the Garden. It wasn't his place anymore. But that was okay. It truly was.

Kate walked back to Draco, grinning ear to ear. He grinned back. As they walked back to the crowd of the funeral, holding hands, they knew everything was good.

"Do you know what we have to do know?" Draco asked.

Kate smiled. "Yes. We must keep the Arca safe and pass on the Guardianship. We join the line of those before us."

"And we live."

"Yes," Kate agreed.

As they crossed the threshold of the Garden, Kali at their heels, a single bird started to sing.


End file.
